Corma
by Shakespeare Diva
Summary: FINSIHED! the fellowship loose themselves in a boarding school in the 21st century.. a bit over-done i know, but worth it.. i think... FINISHED!!
1. Lisaura

Notice: alright. This is mine own bizarre attempt at a Lord of the Rings fanfic, so lets be nice to the aspiring, whatever it is I am. An important thing to understand for the duration of this piece is that it's an alternate universe. In fact, its about as alternate as it gets. The fellowship has found, or rather forgotten themselves, in the present (or somewhere there abouts) as high-school students. Why? Because I believe it might make the universailites of the piece more poignant, and relative to today's youth by establishing the similarities in behavior and moralistic standards that still exist. In short, because that's how I'm writing it. So there. Also, please bear with, as this is a bit archaic, but it will make sense in further chapterings, I swear.  
  
  
  
Chapter one.  
  
The mechanical, yet comforting click of computer keys was the only noise that disturbed the pristine silence in Mr. Elrond's office. Lisaura looked around as the spry, dark-haired man peered intently at the glowing screen before him. The walls were a beige color, much like the rest of the school or, what she had seen of it. Various diplomas and plastic-gold awards hung on the walls over heavy looking Mahogany bookshelves, crammed with large, ancient-looking tomes. A pleasant room, at lest to Lisaura it was. Outside the long window next to the desk, a brisk autumnal breeze bristled through the stark, bronze and gold leafed trees. A few figures strolled along the cobbled paths between the school buildings. A boy with long, almost white blonde hair was tossing a ball back and forth with a shorter, stocky looking boy. Behind them a tall, dark haired girl was holding hands with a dark-looking boy. Lisaura wondered if they were all friends, a quiet, compact little group, a merry band, like the ones she had read about in books. She imagined them all riding on horseback, being chased by looming shadows and fire breathing monsters, swords drawn, hoofs clapping like thunder on the pebbled path beneath. She couldn't help but smile as her mind's eye watched the quiet cluster below her, swathed in light jackets and mufflers transform into fighting elves and warrior kings. Mr. Elrond brought her attention back to the office as he spun around from the computer to face her, a copy of her transcripts in his fingers.  
  
"Well, Miss Corma it seems that all of your paperwork is in order. I would like to welcome you to a Rivendell School. I am sure that you and your brother will find Rivendell precisely what you need."  
  
"I am sure I will, Mr. Elrond, thank you."  
  
"Your brother, Ridley, I believe is already in class. I will ask one of our students if he wouldn't mind showing you to your room."  
  
Mr. Elrond rang a buzzer on his desk, and softly muttered to his secretary to send Bilbo Baggins in. Lisaura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, silently wishing Mr. Elrond had left her to her own devices. She would much rather wander about the exquisite campus on her own than with a guide. And she never liked a fuss being made over her, even if the purpose was reasonable. Quicker than a flash though, the door opened and Bilbo stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind him.  
  
Bilbo was short, not dwarfed, but his shoulders barely touched the doorknob. His face was round and pleasant looking, topped with a mess of honey-colored curls.  
  
"You wanted to see me, Mr. Elrond?"  
  
"Yes, Bilbo. This is Lisaura Corma, she just enrolled at Rivendell, and I was wondering if you'd show her to her room, maybe give her a tour of the campus, get her aquatinted."  
  
Bilbo's eyes landed on Lisaura, giving a pleasantly appraising look. He smiled and offered her his hand, small and round, but smooth and warm.  
  
"Pleased to meet you Ms. Corma. I'm sure you'll find Rivendell just as homey as the rest of us have."  
  
He smiled at her. A very pleasant smile she thought. Bilbo alone would prove to make Rivendell charming, she told herself as she gathered up her bags and followed him out the door. She gave a quick appreciative nod to Mr. Elrond who gave a friendly wink before returning to the phosphorus glow of his computer screen.  
  
A few cluttered offices and flights of stairs later, Lisaura and Bilbo found themselves on the same cobbled path she had been staring at earlier. Bilbo was rattling away proudly about Rivendell's history, its academic and athletic achievements, and other such trivial matters that seemed of great and prideful importance to Bilbo, but Lisaura wasn't listening. Her eyes roamed hungrily over the entire campus, the exquisitely planned gardens and ancient looking buildings. She was in love with campus at first sight and she knew it. The entire place radiated of, happiness, perhaps? Or peacefulness? Whatever it was Lisaura decided that she liked it, and whatever during the year, even if the students here were cut from the same metal of those at Mordor, she decided she would stay.  
  
They stopped at a large stone building, reminding her of a battlement of an old castle. A chill of excitement ran down her spine as she stared up at the towers on the roof spiraling towards the heavens, banners with Rivendell's crest emboirdered on them, flying from the flagpoles.  
  
"It's like a fairytale" Lisaura breathed quietly, her eyes wide. Bilbo smiled to himself.  
  
"This is the girls dorm. Everyone calls it Avalon though." He chuckled, as if remembering an old memory, then cleared his throat back into seriousness.  
  
"boys aren't allowed in, so here is where I leave you. Arwen's probably in, so she'll show you to your room."  
  
" Arwen.?"  
  
"Oh, She's Mr. E's daughter, and kinda the unspoken head mistress of Avalon. Don't worry, she's real nice. You shouldn't have any problems."  
  
"Mr. E?"  
  
"Yea, Mr. Elrond, the principle."  
  
"You mean his daughter goes here?"  
  
"Yea, sure. Anyway, I gotta go. Soccer practice. Arwen should be coming by the field after a bit if ya wanna tag along, I'm sure she'd love to have you. Then we can introduce ya to the gang. They'll be in all of you're classes, so I guess it'd be a good idea to get aquatinted."  
  
He gave her quick little wave then set off in a jog of the path, towards what looked like a large field. She sighed and looked back up over the façade of her new home. She was beginning to imagine herself pacing atop one of the towers, waiting for a valiant prince to rescue her, when the door opened, shaking her back to reality. A tall girl stepped out, her long dark hair braided neatly behind her. Lisaura immediately recognized her as the girl she saw walking before. Close up, the girl was beautiful, with wide, kid looking eyes and a pleasant smile set on blemish-less skin. An angel, perhaps.. or a fairy.  
  
"Oh, hey. You must Lisaura. Dad just called over, said you were on your way. Where's Bilbo?"  
  
Lisaura motioned to the field where he ran off to, Arwen's face immediately lighting up into a small laugh. Like bells, Lisaura thought.  
  
"Of course. Practice. I'm so glad you came, I almost forgot. Well, I'm sure you'll want to get settled. Then maybe you'd want to watch practice? It's kinda boring if you're not playing. But the guys are definitely worth watching." She gave Lisaura a wicked little grin. "Besides, you'll wanna meet everyone. But, you must be freezing out there. Come in, I'll show you your room."  
  
Arwen stepped aside, and motioned for Lisaura to come in. Lisaura smiled thankfully and toted her and her bags inside. It was warm, despite the largeness of the main room. A fireplace larger than Lisaura's old bedroom lay opposite the door, a roaring fire crackling inside. A dozen or so overstuffed couches, high-backed chairs, and tapestried setees were scattered in some form of a pattern about the room. Large oriental rugs lay between furniture pieces, creating a path towards the stairs leading to the dorms. Lisaura's jaw dropped at the sight. Such places she thought only to exist in fairy tales and ladies home journals. Arwen motioned again for her to her follow as she slowly climbed the stairs. Lisaura obeyed, her eyes confused as to what they should pay more attention to, her guide or her new home.  
  
"You get used to it, I promise."  
  
Lisaura looked at Arwen, slightly confused.  
  
"Avalon. You get used to it. I know my first week here, I kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. But I wasn't and you're not either, trust me. It is a little much, perhaps,"  
  
"Oh, no," Lisaura interrupted. "I think it's perfect. It's like all of those old castles from medieval times, you know? All resplendent and everything. You probably think I'm stupid."  
  
"No, no I don't at all. I felt the same way. Everyone did. Rivendell takes your breath away, that's what it's supposed to do. I think if Rivendell weren't so, resplendent, as you put it, it wouldn't serve its purpose rightfully."  
  
"What is its purpose? I thought it was a school?"  
  
"It is. But it's also a haven for many from the storm. People like you and your brother."  
  
Lisaura blushed at this and became very quiet. No doubt Mr. E talked with his daughter about the doings of the school and its students. Lisaura and her brother, she assumed, would be no different now that they were enrolled. However, having her past discussed at the dinner table wasn't all together a settling idea, and she wasn't sure if the thought comforted her, or alienated her more.  
  
Arwen rounded a corner from the landing taking Lisaura down a long hallway that reached lengths on either side of the stairs. Large, heavy-looking wooden doors lined one side of the wall, while a dozen or so wall-high windows cast odd sunlight shadows on the green carpeted floor. Arwen stopped at one of the doors and opened it, stepping aside for Lisaura to go in. Lisaura gasped at the sight. A four-poster bed, with thick velvety curtains sat in the middle of a well-sized room. Nothing near as grand as the main hall, but Lisaura was pleased. Another fireplace sat opposite the bed, a smaller, but no less warm fire spat away, while Lisaura's trunks and baggage lay strewn about the room.  
  
"I'll leave you to get set up. I'll be back in a bit so we can make it to practice before they get all sweaty and gross, alright?"  
  
Lisaura laughed and Arwen smiled at her before gently closing the door. Lisaura walked dazedly about the room for a while, the clean white walls almost shimmering in the fading sunlight. A window near the bed was open, a small breeze fluttering through the opening caused the opaque curtains to flutter over a small bureau. A large rosewood wardrobe stood next to it, and Lisaura was shocked, if not a little bit pleased to find that her clothes had already been hung up. She walked to her trunk and opened them, finding most of their contents to be emptied, save a few boxes and books. She carefully lifted these out and stacked the books on her new desk, next to her bed. The boxes, which held various brushes, and shampoos, and a few picture frames, she shoved into a desk drawer, telling herself she'd worry about that later.  
  
She wandered over to the window to close it, when the sound of shouts and laughter floated through the air. She looked down, and discovered that her window gave her a perfect view of the soccer fields. Ten bodies ran around, a small dot of a soccer ball helpless to their legs. She couldn't make out faces, but the noise seemed to hint at the friendliness of the company. She closed the window, the curtains fluttering to a standstill by the sill, and Lisaura shivered. Her thin T-shirt would not be perhaps the best thing to wear to a windy soccer game. She strolled to her new wardrobe and opened it, looking for a sweater. While rifling through her assortment of clothes, a strange garment caught her eye and she pulled it out for closer inspection.  
  
A silvery dress met her eyes, the likes of which she'd never seen before. It was amazing beautiful, to say the least. The fabric was light and shimmering, trimmed in the tiniest of silver cording. It was the most breathtaking thing Lisaura had ever seen, and her breath caught in her throat as she reminded herself of the soccer practice. She carefully put the dress back, sure it was one of her imaginative daydreams, and grabbed her coat. She bent down to the bureau's mirror checking to see if everything was in order, when a soft knock came at the door. Lisaura straightened up as Arwen gently pushed the door open.  
  
"Hey, you ready?"  
  
Lisaura nodded and grabbed her coat before following Arwen out the door, down the hall and the stairs into the main hall. Lisaura kept her eyes open and her focus on the house's geography. If she was going to be living here for the next few years, she would have to learn how to get around without following Arwen or whoever happened to pass by her door at any given moment. Arwen stopped at the foot of the stairs, and so did Lisaura, but just short of bumping into Arwen. The Principle's daughter smiled and motioned towards the couches, where ten young men, sweaty, dirty and panting were sitting, each one looking appraisingly at Lisaura.  
  
"Lisaura, I would like to introduce you to the soccer team. I figured you might as well know their names before you watch them, try, to play." She gave a quirky grin to boys, who all feigned hurt which gave way to short bouts of manly laughter.  
  
"First of all, boys, this is Lisaura Corma, the new transfer from Mordor."  
  
A general gasp and look of unease swept through the company save one boy with tousled brown hair. Lisaura's face lit up when she saw him.  
  
"Ridley!" She cried. The boy smiled and pushed himself up off the couch he was sitting on and lumbered over to her, his muddy sneakers leaving imprints of the polished wooden floor. Lisaura gently nudged past Arwen, who took to watching with an amused look on her face, and ran to meet Ridley, throwing her arms around his neck. He in turn blushed red and gently pried her off of him, running a hand through his hair in a decidedly "cool" manner.  
  
"Do you know this young man, or do you make it a habit to throw yourself at our soccer players?"  
  
"No, no," Lisaura blushed now too, "This is my brother, Ridley."  
  
One of the players spoke up, a large, muscular looking boy. His eyes unnerved Lisaura, so quick and narrow. They looked over her and her brother distrustingly, and his voice, rumbling deep within his chest, rang as though he spoke the opinion of judgement of the entire group.  
  
"Ridley, you never said you were of Mordor"  
  
"He's not." Lisaura spoke up. The steel in her own, parlor-quiet voice seemed to match his, and suprized her. Her own thoughts of Mordor proved strong enough to let her venture from her quiet ways, even if it was a first impression she was potentially ruining. "Nor am I. We merely attended Mordor for a year, but that does not mean we are of Mordor. We heard that Rivendell was an understanding place, where people were not judged for their past. I find that rumor to be mistaken"  
  
"I'm sure Boromir meant no harm, Lisaura, its just that his tongue runs away with him sometimes, well, most of the time. You mustn't pay any mind to a thing he says." Arwen said reassuringly as she through a stern, silencing glance to Boromir. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and sat back down, keeping his gaze to the fire, away from Lisaura.  
  
"Well, you know Boromir now." Arwen frowned towards his back, then turned to the rest of the company, her usual sparkling smile back on her face.  
  
"Now to the rest of them. First of all, may I introduce the 'hobbits', a self proclaimed group of whiz kids. Honestly, Lisaura, if you ever need anything booky, help with a test, a study buddy, someone to hack into bank security codes," Arwen gave a pointed look a red-headed boy, blushed to match his curls and stifled a laugh, "These boys are your best hope. And you'll never find a closer group. I swear you can never find one without the other. They are, in no particular order, Samwise Gamgee," a short blonde-haired boy stood up, his face, though pleasant and bearing a sheepish grin, was covered in mud, adding a disheveled look to his clownish demeanor. He gave Lisaura a shot nod, and she found that she liked him, and smiled back.  
  
"Meriodoc Brandybuck," a boy with honey colored curls waved spryly, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. The redhead, who was sitting next to Meriodoc, elbowed him in the ribs warningly, then smiled up at Lisaura, giving her a smaller, shyer wave. Lisaura grinned back, and gave a little wave in return.  
  
"The redhead malcontent would be Pippin Took, and then the infamous Baggins' brothers, Bilbo, whom you know, and Frodo."  
  
Bilbo all but jumped to his feet, beaming pleasantly, as usual.  
  
"Hello again Miss Corma. I hope you found everything alright?"  
  
"I did Bilbo, thank you."  
  
"Good. Oh, this is my little brother, Frodo. Frodo, this is Miss Corma."  
  
A brown haired boy stood up then. Lisaura's eyes stuck to his in a strange way. She couldn't look away from him to save her life. His face was young, but had the gentlest lines of care painted onto his eyes. He smiled, well, the corner of his mouth tugged upward at the corner, sending a light into the warm, browns of his eyes. There was friendliness there, tenderness, but something else as well, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She blinked, breaking Frodo's spell over her, for now, and she managed to mumble some form of a coherent greeting.  
  
"So, there you have them, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo and Frodo. Then there's Gilmi," The stocky looking boy she saw from Elrond's window, nodded to her as he wiped some mud from his cheek.  
  
"And then last, but never least, Legolas, the poet laureate of Rivendell."  
  
A tall, lithe boy stood up and gave a short, almost courtly bow. It looked good on him. Although he was thin, Lisaura could see the build of muscles straining underneath his shirt. His face too was smudged with dirt, but even through the grim, he was, well, beautiful. His skin, creamy and pale, almost glowed. His almond shaped blue eyes were fathomless, and Lisaura found herself drowning in them. The rest of the room seamed to drop away, and she was surrounded by his clear blueness, floating in it. She smiled, the first real smile she'd given anyone in a long time, and he seemed to smile back as well, then something unexpected happened. The blue began to swirl, to cloud, until it became a pitch black void, swallowing her. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, something to flag down the roomful of people to her aid, but her mind swirled into the darkness, leaving Lisuara to collapse onto one of the rugs, and the rest of the room, to lunge to her side. 


	2. the bedroom council

Chapter two  
  
The company sat restlessly about Lisaura's bed; Arwen paced at the foot. A new figure reached a hand out and calmed her, his piercing gray eyes speaking peaceful sentiments. Arwen, as if understanding, nodded and sat down next to him. His hand slipped down her arm and enclosed her hand, which grabbed onto his eagerly. Neither of them looked at each other, their eyes instead focused on the young girl laying, sleeping now, on her bed; Lisaura.  
  
Frodo sat by her side, his eyes steadily gazing at her face, so calm now that it had given way to dreams. He reached out a hand to sweep away a tendril of hair that had fallen across her face. His fingers lingered on her hair, its smoothness playing gently against his thick, almost stubby fingers. Unaware of anyone else's presence, he let his hand slide down her cheek and touch down into the nape of her neck. So smooth, almost downy, he thought. Frodo's experience with girls had been almost non-existent, his reclusive nature making him a fell playfellow at most. But something about this girl, this new girl from Mordor, made his courage rise with his hopes of finding a friend in her. He smiled down at her sleeping form and let his hand fall down into his lap. A fake cough Shook Frodo into awareness of the room's eyes and his previous actions. He turned around to see the slightly amused faces of his friends, especially Arwen, and blushed crimson as he walked quickly to the window, hoping to escape their gazes.  
  
Legolas, who leant silently against the doorframe, his icy blue eyes fixed on Lisaura, pushed off the wall and walked over to Arwen.  
  
"She'll be alright, wont she?"  
  
Arwen noted the concern in the young man's voice, a flash of quiet understanding beaming in her soft brown eyes. She nodded, and patted her friend's shoulder  
  
"Yes Legolas, she'll be fine. She just fainted is all. Girls used to do it all the time."  
  
The young man sitting next to Arwen laughed lowly at that, and Legolas turned his keen, quick gaze to him  
  
"Strider. Why weren't you at the game?"  
  
"Because it wasn't a game," Strider returned, his voice soft yet commanding. "It was merely practice."  
  
"yes, but you know its all the same to us. You should've come out. Almost got Boromir to the ground, didn't I?"  
  
Legolas turned an amusedly mischievous face to the large boy sitting on one of Lisaura's trunks. He looked up from his usual brooding and smiled at Legolas.  
  
"That's not the way I remember it, Legs. But, delude yourself if you must, I wont hold it against you."  
  
Legolas chuckled and waggled a finger mockingly at Boromir.  
  
"You may be bigger than I am, Boar," at this, the entire room erupted into muffled giggles, trying not to wake the girl. "But I'm the quicker one. You'll have to be careful. You never know what you'll wake up missing one of these days." Legolas now dangled a wallet from his slender, nimble fingertips, a cat-like grin spreading across his face. Boromir's face, on the other hand, erupted into a pair of wide eyes and gaping mouth as he felt around his empty pockets for his lifted wallet.  
  
"Why you little…" Boromir whispered, getting up and snatching his wallet away from the grinning twig. He gave Legolas a playful slap in the shoulder and returned to his spot on the trunk, a wide grin on his face.  
  
The room's spirit's lifted for a moment, but a slight rustling of bed sheets, and everyone's attentions were turned back to Lisaura, who rolled onto her side, unaware of her visitors. Boromir got up and took Frodo's place by her bed, his harsh eyes melting onto her soft features. Frodo noticed this quietly, and walked up behind Boromir, laying his hand on his friend's shoulder.  
  
"She's angelic, isn't she?" Frodo whispered, and all Boromir could do was nod slowly.  
  
"I do not understand you men," Arwen laughed quietly from the foot of the bed, getting up and strolling to the bedside pair. "How is it that a little girl can make you loose your tongues and senses all in one afternoon?" At this, Strider laughed outright and was quickly hushed by Merry and Pippin, who sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor playing cards.  
  
"You do not understand because you do it yourself."  
  
Strider's dark eyes were fixed on Arwen, who seemed to falter her constantly cheerful and controlled demeanor at his words. Her own eyes softened as she dared a look back at him. Kind words were not a rarity from him where she was concerned, but he rarely spoke them in company. The room knew this and all turned away ever so slightly, while Arwen, as if entranced, made her way back to his side. The two whispered two each other, every now and then Strider would laugh or Arwen would blush, but their doings became veiled from the rest, as they had been for years.  
  
Frodo and Boromir turned their attentions to the card game, while Legolas stared melancholy out of the window, as was his way. Bilbo bustled into the room, unnoticed by the rest. He carried in his stout arms a wash basin filled with cold water and towels, which he set up on a nightstand by her bed. He hummed quietly to himself while everyone else, wrapped up in their own doings, let him alone. He was the first one to notice the stirring bed sheets and the body that sat up in them.  
  
"Ah, Lisaura! You're awake then!"  
  
Bilbo's happy voice lilted through the room, and instantly eight heads snapped towards the head board, where a pale, tired looking face sat propped up, smiling weakly at them all.  
  
Everyone sprung to their feet, encircling the bed. Smiling faces shone down at her, all their voices, quitting their cautious restraint, mixing into a loud cacophony of well-wishes and "who are you's."  
  
"Lis, are you alright? You had us worried sick?" Arwen's comforting voice rose above the rest as she kneeled by her side, her smooth hand gently stroking Lisaura's warm forehead.  
  
Lisaura managed a nod before a cool compress was wept onto her forehead by Bilbo's ready and willing hands. The attention she was receiving was incredible, but not just a bit frightening for her. Through the crowd, she caught a pair of warm brown eyes, smiling down at her. Frodo grinned, relieved and let his fingers touch hers, ever so slightly. The touch turned out to be more than she could bear. Her fingers instinctively curled up to meet his, and grabbed on in an iron grip. Her actions startled Frodo, but only for a moment as he, in return, slipped his hand around hers comfortingly. Suddenly, the room didn't seem quiet as imposing as it had before, and Lisaura was bale to answer the group's questions cheerfully.  
  
She didn't have answers. What happened when she fell, she couldn't say, and after all was said and done, they decided it was just the excitement of the day.  
  
It was decided, by Bilbo the great caretaker, that some dinner would do all them good, to which Merry and Pippin heartily agreed and offered to hurry ahead to the cafeteria to save a table. However, Lisaura found that walking was not something she was prepared to do, and offered to stay behind when a pair of arms swept around her, lifting her out of the bed and through the door.  
  
She was shocked as all to see Boromir's face, handsome face she admitted to herself, smiling down sheepishly at her.  
  
"We can't have you not eating, especially after taking a fall like you did."  
  
Lisaura nodded, a little dumbfounded as to his friendly behavior.  
  
"I, um, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. It was rude of me, and I'm sorry."  
  
"No, no," Lisaura protested, "If anyone was at fault, it was I. I know what sort of a reputation Mordor has. But please understand, I do not defend the place, merely my brother and I. Our days there were… the worst of our lives, Boromir. And if possible, I would wipe the memory of the place from Ridely's mind forever. I cannot, however. So I am content to protect him from its name, at whatever cost."  
  
The entire company had gone quiet at her words, each of them mulling silently over their own thoughts. Boromir's thoughts her on the girl in his arms.  
  
"You and I are not very different then, it seems" he whispered as they made their way down the stairs, unaware of Frodo's and Legolas's eyes one them. 


	3. the picnic of shadows

Chapter Three  
  
  
  
The stars sprinkled the evening sky like the faintest of glitters on velvety black, while the setting sun and slowly rising moon battled on a celestial field for dominance. Lis sighed as a cool breeze passed over the makeshift soccer field, fluttering the blankets laid down on the lawn. Gimli and Strider ran through the sweet smelling grass, kicking a ragged- looking ball between them. Arwen watched quietly and Lis could see the tinniest of glimmers in her brown eyes as Strider's figure moved across the lawn. Dinner had been quiet, and the dinning hall was, as Lis put it, "In keeping with the resplendent nature of Rivendell", to which Arwen chuckled.  
  
After eating, Legolas suggested a visit to "the fields" as they were called, and the gang agreed. Lis walked slowly behind the rest as they made their way expertly down the cobbled paths. The food had strengthened her, but her knowledge of Rivendell's roadways was narrow and she found keeping up with the regulars a rigorous task.  
  
Frodo noticed her absence from the group and slackened his pace to keep her company. Lis thanked him, and took his arm when he offered it, her legs still a tad too weak from her fall. She marveled at the campus's beauty in the day, but the waning light cast a fairy-land aura about the place, dew clinging to the slightest cobweb, slivers of reds crawling through the veins of large maple leaves as they turned for the season. Everything about Rivendell was otherworldly, from the buildings to the landscapes. It was as if Rivendell's founders had watched Lis's dreams, taken notes and reproduced them to an exact likeness. The place was light and airy and, homey. Bilbo's words came back to her now as she realized he was right. She was home, finally, after so long.  
  
The little stone path meandered its way through the campus, past Avalon and the boy's dorm, more commonly known as "the Pen". Dozens of trees and flowering shrubs lined the way until the stones stopped and the hedges opened out into a large field. Strider and Gimli took immediately to kicking the soccer ball between them, while Legolas and Sam spread out sheets for the rest of them to sit on. And so they did, the deepening night sky watching the contented specks below. Legolas lounged on his side, his slender fingers boredly playing with a tuft of grass. Sam, Merry and Pippin were playing cards. Every once in a while Merry and Pippin would exchange sly glances at each other, while Sam sat pondering over his hand, his tongue sticking out of his mouth in thought. Arwen watched Strider, Lis watched her and Frodo watched Lis, while Boromir lay on his back, counting the stars.  
  
It was a delicious calm night, neither too hot nor too cold, and every one in a while a gentle breeze would sweep through the fields, rippling through the grass like wind on the ocean. Lis smiled, pulling her gaze from Arwen to survey the field. She'd always liked wide-open spaces; the confining nature of Mordor alone was enough to make her long for expanses. Mordor. A discomforting thought. A shadow passed over her face as her past began to creep into her memory. The wind rustling through the grass suddenly became a loud roar, and the moon seemed to glare down with sun-like brilliance in a cold, frozen sky. The wind seemed to pick up as well, whipping around her with icy lashes. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut, hoping she was merely dreaming again, but as the din grew louder and the wind colder, she found she couldn't ignore it anymore. She dared to open her eyes, and found that no on else seemed affected. The hobbits were still playing cards, Strider and Gimli were still playing ball, no one noticed her, or her momentary attack. How she wished Ridley were here. He always seemed to know when she was in trouble, which had been happening a lot. Her brother could take care of her when no one else could, he could sense things no one else could sense.  
  
She closed her eyes again, silently praying Ridley would wake up and find her, wake her up. Almost as soon as the thought entered her mind, a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders. Strong arms, she thought, too strong for Ridley.  
  
She opened her eye, and looked down. Legolas's arms surrounded her. She turned her head and found his piercing blue eyes staring down at her. She swayed a bit, but didn't collapse, the rest of his face coming into view. Slender, like the rest of him, but not without its strengths. Long blonde hair fell about his shoulder, and even though it had been pulled back, a few wisps fell across his cheek. He ran his fingers across her forehead, his eyes intent-looking, his features worriedly rigid.  
  
"You aren't well." He whispered.  
  
Lis tried to shake her head, but his eyes stopped her from lying. He knew. She didn't know how, but he knew she was ill. He could sense it, she saw it in his eyes, the same look Ridley had. But something else was mingled in with it, something she couldn't sense.  
  
She looked around, and saw that no one was watching them. Frodo had join the card game, and all the hobbits were laughing merrily as Sam was duped again. She sighed and started to lean her head on his shoulder, but remembered he was not her brother and scooted away from him, the shivering gone. Legolas watched her quietly, something like a amusement dancing in his eyes now.  
  
"You do not trust me?"  
  
"No, no, it's not that, it's just that, I don't know you. Not well, and it isn't proper." Lis blushed at the prudish politeness that had controlled most of her life. Still, she didn't wish to become a known name for her draping behavior, as some girls were. Distance was the only thing that could prevent that, and keep her good anonymity intact. But his eyes called to her, begging her to come closer. She wanted to trust him, she ached to, but prudence guarded her actions towards the melancholy youth… for now.  
  
"Perhaps we should leave formalities for later," he said, scooting closer to her, a small grin spreading across his face. "You are not well, and should probably go back to your room. You've had, quite the interesting day, wouldn't you say, Miss Corma?"  
  
" I suppose I have," she giggled in spite of herself, her earlier attack all but melting away into the shadows of her memory. "But I'm afraid I'll have to venture back by myself. Boys aren't allowed in the dorms."  
  
As soon as she said it, the absurdity of her statement hit her. All day she had seen more men in her rooms than girls, despite Bilbo's earlier admonishments.  
  
"Ah, yes. Well, technically, we aren't. But exceptions are always made. I hope you will make me one of them."  
  
His eyes grew serious again, even as his smile flashed debonair. She felt a quick blush rising into her cheeks at his words, his eyes, his smell…  
  
She began to sway again, and the rustling in the grass began to roar once more. Legolas saw her beginning to slip and whispered, "It seems I'll have to be one of your trusted few for the moment." Before he stood up, clearing his throat.  
  
Arwen looked up at him.  
  
"Lis is tired. Long day. I think I'm just gonna take her back to her room. I was on my way up anyway."  
  
Arwen nodded and smiled. The company called out their various good-nights and Legolas reached down to help her up. He held her close to his side, his hand clamped gently around her arm.  
  
"Walk for just a few feet, at least until we're out of sight. You wouldn't want to have to explain this again would you?" he whispered into her ear with a small smile. He waved to the group and started off for the path, Lis leaning heavily on his arm. When they reached the protective barrier of the hedge, she collapsed her legs no longer able to support her. Legolas was down by her side in a flash, his arm winding protectively around her waist and a hand cradling her neck.  
  
"You alright there?" he asked, but his eyes already knew their answer.  
  
Lis nodded and tried to stand up, but stumbled forward, where Legolas caught her and rested her upon his chest.  
  
"Now, you're going to have to stop that," he laughed, "You not alright, are you?"  
  
She gave her head a little shake before giving in and letting it collapse onto his chest. Legolas looked down at her thoughtfully.  
  
"Do you think you can walk?" he whispered throatily. When Lis shook her head again, he swept his arm under her knees, lifting her off the ground and into his arms. He started walking for the dorms, a small smile flickering across his face, while Lis, slightly confused and uncomfortable, leaned her head on his shoulder, relaxing into his arms.  
  
"How long have you been like this?"  
  
Lis shrugged. "Ever since we left Mordor."  
  
"I thought so." Legolas looked thoughtful for a moment and fell quiet, leaving Lis to gaze up at the quiet man.  
  
"You should be careful with shadows Lis. They mean trouble."  
  
"Shadows…?"  
  
"Your shivering and fainting spells. You can't go blaming it on feminine delicacy much longer. You'll have to deal with it, and soon. Rivendell is peaceful, but not without its eyes and ears," at this Legolas grew somewhat distant, as if remembering his own shadows. "There are those here who would want to know everything about you. They mean well, don't get me wrong. But I know what prying minds are like, Lis. Its better to rid yourself of that which you cannot hide easily."  
  
"What did you have to hide?" Lis's eyes flashed suprisingly. His words, she new were bred from concern, but she couldn't help but see it as an outcast lamenting his own tortured life. Tortured life? Ha, he didn't know what torture was. How could he? How could anyone with a face so beautiful know?  
  
"Much, and lets let it rest at that." He smiled down at her, quickly taking note of her agitation, but choosing to ignore, or at least seeming to.  
  
Avalon loomed ahead of the strolling pair, while moonlight slanted odd shadows through the rough touched façade.  
  
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she sighed, the sight of her new home occupying her thoughts instead of Legolas and his shadow. "Ya know, I always wanted to live in a place like this, pretend I was a queen or a princess in desperate need of rescuing."  
  
"And are you so sure your not?"  
  
His words snapped her back to reality. He stared down at her calmly, a gentle breeze catching a few strands of hair and blowing them across his face. She reached up, brushing it aside, not wanting anything to block her view of his eyes, she wanted to read their meaning. Her fingers brushed against his cheek as she did, and the minute she touched him, a shock went through her body. An eternity seemed to pass before her fingers fell from his skin, and the two stood looking at each other, Lis still tucked up in his arms. Legolas closed his eyes, a troubled look sweeping over his face. He put her down, slowly, and Lis found her bearings quickly, though she silently wished to be back in his arms.  
  
Then something unexpected happened. Legolas touched her. He reached out his hand, his eyes still closed, and ran his fingers along her neck. She shivered slightly, his touch making her knees quiver. His fingers traced the neckline of her shirt and slowly slipped underneath. Lis's eyes widened, but she couldn't find it in her to pull away. Legolas's fingers trailed down to her collarbone, stopping in the middle. He stood there for a moment, his eyes still closed.  
  
"That's where he hit you first." He whispered.  
  
Lis's eyes widened more and she finally found the energy to pull away. Legolas's hand slipped back to his side and his eyes snapped open.  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice quivering.  
  
"Sauron. That's where he hit you the first time. Isn't it?"  
  
Lis nodded slowly, her mind racing numbly.  
  
"How did you...?"  
  
"You touched me." He said, as if that answered the sea of questions storming in her mind.  
  
"I saw your shadows when you touched me. Looks like your stuck with me now." He chuckled slightly, though very much aware of the seriousness of their current situation.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Who knows how often you'll see Ridley now. You're older than he is, he hasn't finished high school. You need someone else to take care of you Lis. I guess that's me now."  
  
"Take care of me?"  
  
"You need sleep Lis. We'll talk about this in the morning. Over breakfast, alright?"  
  
Lis nodded slowly, her face numb with shock and confusion. Legolas led her to the door and opened it, the heavy oaken panel creaking anciently on its hinges.  
  
"The dinning hall makes a mean bagel, ya know," He smiled and helped her over the small step on the landing.  
  
"I'm gonna go now. Do you think you can make it up the stairs by yourself?" Lis nodded. "Good. Try to get some sleep, my ransomed Princess." He winked at her slyly, and started to leave. He stopped and quickly took her hand in his, lifting it to his lips and kissing it. He stared at her for a moment, then quickly let go of her hand and hurried off. Lis watched, awe-struck, for a few minutes, before she closed the door and went to bed. 


	4. bagels

Notice. I would like to heartily thank everyone who's reviewed. You have no clue how scrumdidilyumptious it makes me feel. And thanks for sticking this piece out. I know its confusing, but trust me, this chapter will make, if not everything, much more understandable. Oh, and a big thanks to jace, my beta reader of sorts, for asking me all the right questions, and inflating my punctured ego.  
  
  
  
Chapter four  
  
Bleak, gray drizzle poured down from the soot-colored skies. Lis watched the rainwater trickle down the eaves and windowpanes while Legolas munched quietly, but contentedly on his bagel.  
  
"Fine second day." She murmured into her palm, as the gray clouds outside swirled and darkened menacingly.  
  
"Yes, isn't it?" he mumbled around bits of pastry. Lis smiled. She couldn't help it.  
  
"Ah, see, it's not that bad, if you're smiling."  
  
Lis tried her best to keep from grinning even more broadly by quickly taking a bite of her own bagel.  
  
"Now, you keep your end, Lee. You said we would talk over breakfast remember?"  
  
"All in good time, Princess. First of all," he said, leaning over the table towards her. He reached a hand out and gently brushed her bottom lip, pulling away with a smear of cream cheese on his fingers.  
  
"There, that's better." He teased, a smile playing on his face. Lis noticed the faintest of circles under his eyes, and the ever-so –slightly disheveled look to his hair. Maybe he hadn't slept well last night either, she thought.  
  
"Now then, you have questions, I'm sure."  
  
Lis's eyes lit up at this and Legolas chuckled at her eagerness.  
  
"How did you know about…" Lis touched her collarbone, her face draining of color and blushing lightly at the same time. Legolas took this in with his usual quiet thoughtfulness, the smile now gone.  
  
"It's a strange thing, shadows. Sometimes they lie dormant and we don't even know that they're there. But sometimes they flicker to life at unexpected moments, and we are powerless to their throws. All we can do is wait until the darkness passes, or until someone brings us a light."  
  
"Shadows…?" Lis echoed, her face plainly displaying her confusion.  
  
"Our past. It forms shadows that follow behind us all our lives. Some shadows are good, some are bad. Yours are, very bad." His face fell somewhat now, he looked, older, and Lis could see the tiniest of lines feathering across his otherwise smooth forehead. Worry lines. She could've sworn they weren't there last night…  
  
"Sometimes, our shadows are so great, that they cannot be contained in ourselves alone. That's when we require someone else to take care of us, to keep our pasts for us. Last night, when you, touched me," at this, the tiniest hint of a blush flamed up in Legolas's cheeks, and he cleared his throat hastily before continuing. "You passed some of your shadows to me, the part you especially needed help with. Everything you saw, I've seen. Everything you heard, everything you touched. The only thing I can't know is how you felt, and for that I am sorry. Last night, my mind keep flashing everything that happened at Mordor."  
  
Lis watched him as he slowly pried his eyes away from her.  
  
"I'm sorry for everything he did to you, Lis. And I swear, if I can, I'll make him pay."  
  
"Lee, please," the look growing onto his faced frightened her. She'd seen it before, in Mordor. Sauron's face grew cloudy like that, like a tempest was raging underneath his skin. For all she knew there was one, but too many times the storm would be too much for him to handle, and he'd share his shadows with her, the only way he knew how. The bruise on her collarbone and few on her side suddenly began to pulse sickeningly with the thought of his hand. She used to love it, his hand. She held it when she'd first come to Mordor, after her parents died leaving her to look after Ridley, alone. He used to stroke her face lovingly with it, such a large, warm hand.  
  
It wasn't until too late she learned what else that hand could do.  
  
"Lis, Lis…?"  
  
She could barely hear Lee's voice echoing in the back of her mind. Unknown to her, the shadow had slipped over her again and she was almost drowning in it. Lee reached out across the table and gently laid his hand on her arm. A simple move, but it proved enough to snap Lis back into the light. She looked at him, his eyes warm again, filled with concern and now, understanding. Lis found it comforting that he knew. She had wanted to tell Ridley ever since it had happened, but she could never bring herself to. Ridley was all she had, and she knew it would kill him to have to protect his big sister who he looked on as more of a mother. Burdening people with her problems, no mater how large and grotesque they were, was never something Lis had been comfortable with. Not having to voice her, shadows, to Lee made the situation far easier for her, even if she did feel a bit guilty. After all, she had imposed her past on him without his consent, even if it was unintentional.  
  
"Lee, I'm,"  
  
"Shh. Don't say anything Lis, you don't have to. Don't apologize, or thank me or anything, please."  
  
"Lee, I'm so confused,"  
  
"I know, I am too, believe me. I may seem to have all the answers, but underneath this charmingly assured and devilishly handsome exterior," Lis laughed, "I know about as much as you do. But please, I'm begging you to trust me."  
  
Lis's eyes washed over his face. It seemed to change constantly. The look now was one of utter desperation, and his eyes, those eyes she never could've resisted, pleaded with her. Not to be touched, but to protect. In his eyes she saw comfort and warmth, and the promise of locked doors and strong, safe arms.  
  
"Why is this so important to you?"  
  
Lee pushed away from the table, suddenly too agitated, or energetic, or nervous, or something to keep still. He paced around the tiny table, every now and then grabbing onto the back of his chair, his knuckles going white.  
  
"I have no idea. Its laughable, really. I mean, you show up here yesterday, and already I'm sacrificing my sense of normalcy for you. But Lis, what I saw last night, what's stuck inside my brain now, I cant just walk away from that. I may have tried before, but I cant now. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm too tired to say no. Maybe I'm atoning for some great sin, I dunno."  
  
"Or maybe," Lis cut in "You genuinely want to help me."  
  
Lee looked at her, his face calm, but his eyes betrayed everything she needed to know, Lis was right. He wanted to help. Her. And that was enough for Lis. For now. 


	5. library refuge

Note; Alright, as if the last chapter wasn't short enough. And I know, I know, it didn't explain jack. So, here's my apology to any and everyone who's been reading this story. This chapter had already been planned to come out this way, it just happens to work out nicely that it also answers questions. So, maybe everyone will be happy after this, I dunno. But then again, happiness isn't my job.  
  
  
  
Chapter five  
  
  
  
"Ugh! Won't this rain ever stop?" Arwen whined as she stared dismally at the gray world trapped behind the rain-streaked windows.  
  
"Yes, it will, soon enough I imagine." Strider said quietly, his face staring intently at the book in front of him.  
  
The company was convened in Rivendell's most treasured and massive piece of architecture, the library. Mr. Elrond himself had seen to the funding of the immense building, for he believed in the written word's importance above all else.  
  
"You and your cripticsisms… I swear, why don't you ever just give a straight answer?" Arwen wagged her finger at Strider, a playfully stern look on her face  
  
"Because," he answered with a sigh, as he swung his boots off the smooth, high-polished table-top and got to his feet, "Straight answers are no fun." And with that, he strolled down on of the many long bookshelves that inhabited the library in search of another volume.  
  
"Ari, you might as well sit down and relax, get a book or something. The rain will let up soon enough." Merry chimed up from the hobbit's table. The five sat around a large leather-bound tome, each one chattering quietly but excitedly to the other and every now and then scratching down something in their notebooks.  
  
"If I'd known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have let you convince me into going to the library this morning. We've been stuck in here for hours…"  
  
"Two hours, actually, and you could always go back to bed, oh lovely one." Sam commented, his eyes never leaving the print in front of him  
  
Arwen sighed, but resigned herself to flipping through a Russian romance novel when the front doors burst open. A surge of wind and rain swept through the portal and two rain-drenched figures rushed through the doors and hurriedly slammed them closed. Strider stuck his head out from the side of shelf, and eyed the strange pair warily, his fists curling tightly. The hobbits jumped at the sound of the slamming doors, and all turned in the seats towards the door, a small shriek of suprize was heard from Pippin, though he slapped his hand over his mouth immediately after.  
  
The pair, giggling, pulled the drenched hats off their heads, revealing Lee and Lis, looking like wet dogs. The entire room sighed. The hobbits returned their attentions to their book and Arwen got up, excited by anything that wasn't a book, with Strider following a safe distance behind her.  
  
"And just where have you two been all morning?" Arwen asked maternally  
  
"We were just getting breakfast." Lis squeaked out as she eyed Lee. "We brought some if you guys want…" at the sound of food, all of the hobbits shot out of their chairs and towards Lis, their eyes shinning like a six-year-olds on Christmas morning.  
  
"Food? Did you bring us food, Miss Corma?" Bilbo asked, rubbing his hands together  
  
"Yes we did Bilbo. Bagels and apples for everyone!" Lee cried as he produced a rather large brown paper nag from inside his jacket. The outside was a bit damp, but the hobbits hungrily thanked them as they crammed warm bagels into their mouths in between gurgles of delight.  
  
Lis smiled happily at the munching five, while Lee beamed quietly behind her. Arwen and Strider each grabbed a bagel before strolling back to their table and shelf respectively, leaving Lee and Lis to warm themselves by the drafty doors. Lee looked around and, upon spotting one of Rivendell's prolific fireplaces, grabbed Lis' hand and ran to the fireplace, both of them giggling.  
  
Lis collapsed onto the rug, sighing contentedly as the warmth spread over her chilled body. Lee followed behind her, sitting a few feet away with his back resting on the front legs of a chair. She rolled onto her side, her back being warmed by the fire, and watched Lee quietly. His eyes were closed, and she smiled as she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.  
  
He was lithe, thin as a sapling, but strong. He'd carried her all the way from the fields to Avalon last night, after all. Besides, his movements were too graceful, too studied to be made by stringy sinews. His face was lean as well, and fair. Even with his white-blonde hair plastered to his cheeks and neck with water, and a few tiny droplets trickling off his closed eyelashes, he was beautiful, just as much as he was in the night, in the morning, everywhere.  
  
"Yes…?" he drawled, a sly grin spreading across his face. He slowly opened his eyes, the fire behind her reflecting in those mirror-like pools of blue. Lis couldn't move, she was trapped in those eyes.  
  
"You know its rude to stare at people, Lis." He joked. He reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. So gentle, she thought, he's so gentle.  
  
"How you feelin?"  
  
Lis shrugged. "Alright, I guess."  
  
"Tell me when you don't, okay?  
  
Lis gave him a strange look and nodded.  
  
"No, I'm serious. You're my business now, Lis. I intend to take care of you."  
  
"What makes you so sure I need to be taken care of?"  
  
He ran his finger along her collarbone over her wet shirt. Lis's face went quiet. "As long as he's out there, you need me."  
  
She nodded, and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes, listening to the logs in the hearth crack and collapse onto each other. Peaceful. So nice. She could feel eyes on her, though, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.  
  
"You know it's rude to stare at people, Lee." She chuckled as she opened her eyes and rolled her head over to look at him.  
  
"Yes, I know. But I have a legitimate excuse to stare."  
  
"Why, because you're my new big brother?"  
  
"Not really no."  
  
Lis stared at him quizzically, half-wondering whether or not she wanted to hear is real reason or not.  
  
"You're really quite amazing, Lis."  
  
That was all he said. Then he got up and shuffled back to where Arwen was sitting, now with Strider, and integrated himself into the conversation.  
  
Lis sat herself up, puzzling after Lee, then made her way over to the hobbit's table, after their book had caught her attention.  
  
"Oh my gosh, the Anigua!"  
  
Five heads snapped in her direction, all their jaws dropped.  
  
"You know about the Anigua?" Frodo stuttered quietly, shocked.  
  
"Of course I do. It's the premier work of pre-Beowulf mythology available. I used to read this all the time at Mordor."  
  
"They have the Anigua at Mordor?"  
  
"Of course they do. You know, not everything about Mordor is bad. The library, although nothing to Rivendell's, is quite extensive. We, I mean the semi-normal kids at Mordor, used to spend all of our time their. It's so quiet there and safe…"  
  
Lee shot Lis a look at that, and turned his full attention to Lis's conversation now.  
  
Lis and the hobbits went on discussing the finer points of the Anigua, and the myths of the times called Middle Earth. Lee sat enraptured as Lis argued with the resident bookworms on the finer points of the Elven migration. Arwen and Strider, under the guise of translating her Cyrillic novel, whispered earnestly.  
  
"You look tired, Aragorn."  
  
"It's nothing to worry your pretty little head over, Ari."  
  
"My head is good for other things than looking pretty, Aragorn. I would appreciate it if you remember that every once in a while."  
  
"I do, my dearest. I simply do not want you wasting your time on things you cannot help. Sometimes I think you would save the world if someone, like me, weren't there all the time reminding you to stop and sleep."  
  
"Probably. But I sleep so much better when your by my side."  
  
Aragorn reached out and, behind the safety of the book, slid his fingers across her cheek tenderly, in response to which, Arwen shivered, and blushed ever so lightly.  
  
"I'm glad for that." He whispered throatily.  
  
His fingers trailed down her throat, and traced along her collarbones, his eyes calm and his face quiet. Arwen blushed deeper, and quivering pants began to slowly escape from her lips.  
  
"Arwen,"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Promise me something?"  
  
"What more could you want? I've already given you everything you've asked for."  
  
"All I've ever asked for was your heart."  
  
"And it's yours. It always has been."  
  
"And I cherish it, and thank the heavens everyday for you. But promise me something else. Promise you'll let me stay by your side forever."  
  
With that said, Aragorn pulled his other finger from his pocket. Slid onto his index finger, was a ring. Plain, a simple gold band, but it shone with brilliancy in the dim, rainy light cast on the pair from the window behind them.  
  
"I know your father doesn't approve, but I swear to you I can make him believe in me as much as you do, Ari, I promise. You believed in me when even I didn't. I'm the man I am today because of you. Promise you'll agree to let me sing you to sleep every night. Marry me, as soon as you're able. Marry me Arwen, my Evenstar."  
  
Arwen stared at the ring, her jaw dropped ever so slightly. She slowly, but surely, reached to his finger and pulled the ring off, fitting it perfectly about her own.  
  
"Of course I will, you foolish, pig-headed, beautiful man."  
  
Aragorn raised her freshly adorned hand to his lips, tenderly kissing her smooth skin, his eyes never leaving her face.  
  
"Thank you Ari, you have made me the happiest man on earth."  
  
"Oh, I doubt that." Lee's voice rang quietly through their meting. Arwen lipped the book down and found his clear blue eyes staring at them.  
  
"Lee, I swear…"  
  
"Now, Strider, no need to get upset. You two have been my biggest secret for ages, you know that. Oh, my congratulations, by the way. I hope I'm godfather to your firstborn,"  
  
"You know you will be, Lee." Arwen giggled, as Strider calmed down, allowing himself a smile.  
  
"I simply do not think you are the happiest man on the planet, is all. And heavens forbid if I do not call you on even such minor points of dissention."  
  
"Oh, really Lee. And you are the happiest, I suppose?"  
  
"Yes, yes I think so."  
  
"What makes you say that, Lee? What's happened?" Arwen asked.  
  
"No reason, yet. Just enjoying the view." He smiled, as Arwen and Strider followed his gaze towards the hobbit's table. The pair exchanged a knowing glance as Lis looked over her shoulder and smiled shyly at Lee. 


	6. The Hobbit Hole

Note: I have decided to give up authors notes, simply because they do not answer any questions, or give any pre-requisites to anything. So, heartily despaired, I will save my writing for the chapters. Oh yea, and Nancy, was the last bit enough Strider and Arwen for ya? Har…  
  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"I'm tellin' ya Sam, the Elves are representative of the sun." Frodo explained, slipping through pages in his notebook with one hand with the other skimmed the Anigua in front of him looking for information proving his case. Sam sat next to him, his brow furrowed in thought and disagreement.  
  
"I just don't see it. I mean, they're people Frodo. An entire race. Maybe if there was one elf, but an entire people can not be a metaphor. Its just too complicated."  
  
The hobbits and Lis sat on a large rug in the middle of their main room in The Pen. The five hobbits' quarters all lead into the large center room, affectionately known as "the hobbit hole." It was their sanctuary from the rest of the school, housing their computers, their own personal bookshelves, and filling cabinets bursting to overflowing with papers. The entire room gave the impression of a computer lab that had been attacked by a fraternity during rush week. Very much in keeping with the hobbits themselves. They were all on the short side, though all were taller than Bilbo, poor thing. All had messy curls and round, jovial faces. But that was where the similarities stopped.  
  
"What about the un-archetypal importance of the number nine? Most mythologies use sevens," Merry piped up from under his own pile of notes. A pair of black-rimmed, square cut glasses with tape across the bridge, were hanging precariously at the end of his nose, while his quick brown eyes darted over page after page while his fingers hurriedly flipped through them.  
  
"Most, that doesn't mean all, Merry." Pippin said quietly as he sipped a Styrofoam cup of coffee. The steam swirled about his face as his hazel flicked from Frodo to Merry's papers and back again, not too sure which argument he should join. In the end, he relaxed onto a large beanbag chair and sipped his coffee. He caught Lis's eye and smiled.  
  
"What do you think of all this, Lis? I mean, it's not everyday that we get a Anigua expert, let alone a pretty one."  
  
Frodo looked up from his books and shot a glance at Pippin.  
  
"You'll have to excuse us Lis. We're not used to much company of any sort, let alone female company. Pippin's just a bit excited is all."  
  
Merry giggled and Pippin sneered good-naturedly at Frodo, before giving Lis a sly little wink. Lis smiled back then turned her attentions to the Anigua.  
  
"I think Frodo's right."  
  
All fingers stopped moving and every head snapped in her direction.  
  
"About the Elves, I mean. Look at the text. The Elves all migrate towards the west, like the sun sets in the west. Plus, in agreement with modern scientology and various other beliefs, the sun is the center, the place where life begins. So are the Elves, in a sense. They bring order and language to the world. They are its caretakers."  
  
The hobbits just stared at her for a moment, all their jaws dropped in disbelief while they processed her statement. Frodo, on the other hand smiled at her, and nodded as he pulled out a few pages from his pile.  
  
"That's what I've been trying to explain to you, Sam."  
  
The hobbits shook out of their trances and looked back at Frodo's papers, and the low-lying hum of friendly, achedemic banter filled the room. Lis smiled, and got up from the rug and strolled to the window. The earlier rain had not let up. Indeed, since going to the hole to discuss the Anigua further, the rain seemed to have gotten worse. She smiled as she remembered scurrying from the library to the Pen, Sam covering the Anigua with his jacket, while Pippin, afraid of getting his hair wet, ran from tree to tree while sharp, controlled, shrew-ish movements.  
  
"Pretty bleak, huh?" Frodo's said softly behind her as he stared outside. Lis nodded, and focused in on his reflection in the window. The other hobbits were chatting good-naturedly around the book, hardly noticing, or caring, that Frodo had slipped away.  
  
"I like it though." Lis breathed, a small cloud of fog steaming up the window in front of her. Frodo smiled and reached his hand to the window, tracing a smiling face onto the white.  
  
"I like it too." He said, getting closer to the glass. He breathed over a large space, then pulled away and traced his name on the glass. Lis mimicked him, the smallest hint of a childish smile creeping onto her face. However, she wrote her own name on the window. Frodo looked at it, his brow furrowed slightly  
  
"Yea, I've been meaning to ask you about that. I mean, Lisaura is such a weird name (A/N HA!). you named after a grandmother, or what?"  
  
"Oh, no. Um, my parents couldn't decide what to name me when I was born. Mom liked Lisa, but dad thought it was too common. He liked Aurora. Lord knows why. So they compromised. Lisaura."  
  
Frodo nodded, his face lightening with understanding.  
  
"It's a beautiful name." He said quietly, keeping his eyes to her quickly evaporating name. She could see their brightness become clearer as her name faded. Such warm, brown eyes, she thought. The rain outside drizzled in his reflected eyes, washing them, it seemed. She reached out to the window, running her fingers lightly over his eyes, her thoughts wandering.  
  
"So, how did you ever get into the Anigua?" Frodo's voice called her back into reality.  
  
"Hmm? Oh. I dunno. I've always loved to read. And my imagination sort've stuck to the myths. Greece, Peru, Middle Earth. I just read them all. Everything I could find. They really are fascinating, analytically speaking. The way they all coincide. Although, to be honest, it was the romances that interested me first."  
  
"The romances?"  
  
"Yea. Venus and Vulcan, Hades and Persephone,"  
  
"That shouldn't count as a romance. He kidnapped her."  
  
"Well, yes. But it's kinda sweet in a way. I mean, he went through all that he did just because he wanted some beauty in his life."  
  
"Yea, well, its scary if you ask me."  
  
"Ugh. Frodo, you just aren't a romantic."  
  
"Nope. No, I guess I'm not. Call me crazy, but I'll take good olla' courting to kidnapping any day. It may not be 'romantic', but it's a helluva lot more practical."  
  
Lis smiled at him and both burst into laughter. The other hobbits didn't seem to notice as the conversation was becoming heated again.  
  
"It just doesn't make sense." Sam whined adamantly.  
  
"Yes it does." Pippin drawled. "Just because the ring was evil, it doesn't stand that it wouldn't just be destroyed."  
  
"But who destroyed it? That's what I don't understand."  
  
"The Dark Lord did. Who else could've?"  
  
"That's what doesn't make any sense. Why would the Dark Lord destroy his one implement of power? Without he dies. You saw what happened with Isiuldor. The ring went into recession and so did he. Then Smeagol finds the ring and, without any warning, the Dark Lord decides to destroy it, right after it was returned to him? You've got to be kidding."  
  
"Maybe he had a change of heart." Lis said quietly from the window.  
  
"Ha, not likely. Dark warlords do NOT give up power, for anything."  
  
"Well, Hades did," she gave a sly little smile to Frodo, who crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the windowpane, watching amusedly.  
  
"He gave in some of his power to Demeter and Zeus for Persephone's love."  
  
Pippin gave a snort.  
  
"Do you mean to say that the Dark Lord fell in love?"  
  
"Well, no. The Anigua never say exactly what happens. So maybe he did, who's to say? All I say is, just because he was a tyrant and villainous,"  
  
"That doesn't mean he didn't love his teddy bear?" Pippin joked.  
  
The room burst into laughter, even Lis. Merry started sucking his thumb, while Sam loudly hummed a lullaby.  
  
"Alright, it was stupid idea," Lis sputtered in between laughs.  
  
"No, it wasn't stupid," Frodo offered, a grin still plastered to his boyish face.  
  
"Yea, well, whatever it was, I think we need a break." Merry groaned as he stood up finally, arching his back and stretching his arms overhead.  
  
"Hear, Hear, Master Merry." Yelped Sam as he jumped to his feet. "All in favor say 'aye'." He room resounded in the affirmative, and six pairs of feet hit the ground towards the main door out, when it swung open violently, slamming into a bookshelf behind it. Gimli, dripping wet stood in the doorway, panting.  
  
"Hey, short stack, what's the big idea?" Pippin fumed, pushing his way to the front of the group, his eyes scrunched with agitation.  
  
"Galadriel's Back."  
  
With that, he turned and left, leaving the door open behind him. The hobbit's faces fell, and every one of them rushed out of the door behind him. All except Lis and Frodo.  
  
"Galadriel? Who's Galadriel?" Lis mused confusedly. Frodo grabbed her hand and followed, more slowly, after the others.  
  
"Galadriel is Arwen's sister."  
  
Lis just stared at him.  
  
"She's been abroad for a few years now. No one knew when she would come back. Galadriel works on her own time."  
  
"Okay…?"  
  
"She's a seer, Lis, a prophetess."  
  
Lis stared at him for a moment, her mind racing.  
  
A seer, Lis thought. Maybe she can help me. 


	7. Galadriel's meeting

Chapter 7  
  
  
  
The hobbits were the last to arrive. The rain had slackened off for a while, and a fine, thin mist veiled everything. The paths towards Avalon were silvery slick, and the hedges and trees were beaded with stilled rainfall. The path twisted downhill a bit from the Pen, a few stars beginning to dot the cloud- smeared sky. The entire scene was one of enchantment. Rivendell had never looked more beautiful to Lis. The new and slightly mysterious arrival only added to the elegant excitement that seemed to crackle in the air. Gimli lead them past Avalon, into a part of the grounds Lis had never seen before. The small English garden Lis had seen outside the windows in Avalon's sitting room wound beside the new, smaller cobbled path. The smell of roses hung thick in the air like perfume. Past the thick, bleeding green hedges, the path wound down hill. A smallish ditch, now filled with water, followed the path downhill, the rainwater flowing and rippling sweetly, like a tiny, makeshift stream. At the end of the path, dotted with various shrubs and flowers trees, stood a large grove of willows.  
  
Their wispy branches lay thick with feathery leaves, draping across the ground. Gimli lead them through the trees, the path little more than a pebble- out-lined path that meandered patternlessly through the massive, weepy trees. The hobbit's footfall was steady and sure, they knew the path as well as they knew their faces. Lis followed carefully, but the failing light of day and the chasm-like shadows of the grove aided in her increased confusion. Frodo, ever watchful, slackened his knowledgeable pace and coursed by her side.  
  
The two strolled quietly through the grove, a reverent silence humming through the air like ceremonial incense. Frodo pointed every now and then deep into the grove, where a bench, or a well or a fountain would break the leafy monotony in a secretive way. Fireflies darted about the darkened branches, looking like tiny stars being swallowed by the shadows.  
  
The grove was otherworldly.  
  
"Frodo?" Lis whispered quietly, fearing to raise her voice too much.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Who's Galadriel?"  
  
"I told you, Arwen's sister."  
  
"Yes, I know that, but why all this just to go see her? What is this place?"  
  
"You have a lot of questions tonight, don't you?" Frodo grinned.  
  
Lis just looked at him.  
  
"Alright, fine. But one question at a time, please."  
  
"Where are we exactly? How does a place like this come into existence without anyone knowing?"  
  
"Good question. It actually didn't exist until three years ago. Arwen noticed that the property line extended way beyond the little garden behind Avalon, and suggested we plant something. So, we did. We planted the grove. It took us a year, but we did it. So many trees…" he moaned quietly, as if remembering long ago labor. "Ever since it was finished, we would have picnics out here, meetings in the moonlight," he darted his eyebrows up and down quickly, and Lis found herself smiling. "And Galadriel liked it out here. Something about the air. I dunno. So, naturally, whenever she comes back, we meet here. She hates the indoors with a passions. Says that walls block things she needs to be watchful of."  
  
"Is she really a seer?"  
  
"I'd bet my life on it. She's a bit cryptic, but all seers are, I think."  
  
"Why'd she come back?"  
  
Frodo shrugged. "Ya never know why Drili does anything she does. She never gives explanations, she just does."  
  
Lis grew quiet as the path wound downward, through a thicket of holly bushes and smallish, snowy birch trees. The path stopped, opening up into a clearing, circular and large. The woods surrounding were blockaded, as if it were possible to blockade utter and beautiful wilderness. Tallish, wooden pillars, nine in all, stood sentinel about the clearing, small dirt paths winding their way through the woods appearing in between each.  
  
The hobbits had already sat themselves comfortably on the soft, mossy grass, as everyone else had, when Lis and Frodo finally made it to the clearing. Frodo gave Lis a reassuring wink and joined his friends. Gimli sat next to them with Strider and Boromir. The three whispered quietly amongst each other quietly, their low, rumbling baritones spreading through the clearing like fog. Arwen was sitting next to a new face. A beautiful face. Galadriel's face. Lis knew it had to be. She looked just like Arwen, except that Galadriel was fair where Arwen was dark. She was lithe, and had fine, almost delicate features, like lace or porcelain. Long, fine blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and her pale, moon-colored skin shimmered in the cool night air. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Perfect. Well, almost. Her eyes, which were a startling blue, stared straight ahead, even while she talked with Arwen. She never looked at anything, but seemed to see everything. Lis understood what Frodo was talking about.  
  
Galadriel was blind.  
  
Lis felt fingers wrap around her arm gently, and she turned to see Lee smiling behind her.  
  
"I was beginning to give you up for lost." He smirked as he led her to an ornately decorated wooden bench that sat near one of the pillars.  
  
"Gimli's work," he said, in response to the astonished and adoring look on Lis's face. " He's pretty handy with an ax."  
  
Lis's attentions returned to the surrounding greenery. The entire area seemed to breathe. Musky, warm air circled the clearing in predator-like fashion, and Lis suddenly found it too hot for her. She looked around, hoping another one of Frodo's fountain was lurking somewhere near, when she caught Galadriel's eyes.  
  
Those cool, sightless orbs were staring at her. At least, it seemed that way. Lis told herself she must be mistaken, but she couldn't shake the thought. Those eyes, or something else more intangible that waited behind them, were staring at her.  
  
"Drili, where've you been?" Sam squealed from his spot on the grass. All conversations stopped, and every head looked at the blind beauty. Arwen, almost obediently, got up as sat on the grass near Strider and Gimli.  
  
"Where I have been is not as important as what I have seen." She answered, her voice calm, and light, and airy, like a sunny breeze blowing gently through the clearing.  
  
"Isn't that always the case, though, Drili." Strider drawled, to which Galadriel and the rest of the company snickered quietly.  
  
"I suppose it is at that."  
  
"Well, what have you seen then?" Arwen asked, a hint of strained concern in her usually light, carefree voice.  
  
"I saw a fellowship of nine, a fire and a ring. A shadow and a blinding light. And riddles in the dark…"  
  
Lis sat mesmerized, but everyone seemed unfazed.  
  
"She always starts out like this," Lee whispered in her ear.  
  
"I saw middle earth."  
  
"Middle earth?" Frodo piped up. "Like in the Anigua?"  
  
"Yes, my small friend. Except this is no fairy tale. Middle earth was, is, and ever shall be, very real. It's the air we are breathing now. The grass we sit on, he trees that surround us. This is middle earth, my friends."  
  
The hobbits' eyes widened, and Lis could see a dozen questions dancing in their wide eyes.  
  
"Ah, yes my hobbits. The Ring and the dark lord. Your minds are troubled are they not?"  
  
Pippin just stared at her. "Ya know its been what, four years, and  
  
that never gets old…"  
  
"However, the answers I have must be taken on faith alone, for they are not in the Anigua. In fact, regarding what I am going to tell you, the Anigua is wrong completely."  
  
"The dark lord did not just destroy the ring. A war was fought over it. Many died, many more lived, and now the history of those days has become even worse than legend, it has been written out of legend completely."  
  
"But why, Drili?" Frodo asked.  
  
"Simply because the Dark Lord has once again come to power, as he is meant to in every age."  
  
Everyone's face went ashen, even Lis'. She wasn't an Anigua scholar, but even she knew the terrible things he had done in his existence.  
  
"And if he has returned, that means the ring of power has as well, and the Fellowship must once again be reassembled."  
  
"The Fellowship?" Strider asked.  
  
"Nine set forth from Rivendell, in the days before its lord, Elrond, set sail for the lands west."  
  
"Elrond? Rivendell?" Arwen's face clouded with confusion.  
  
"Among the nine were, Gimli, son of Gloin, the dwarf,"  
  
"What? I'm a dwarf?" Gimli exploded.  
  
"Yea, tell us something we didn't know." Merry sputtered out and the hobbits joined in laughing, while Gimli scowled.  
  
Legolas, son of Thodin. The Prince of the Mirkwood elves,"  
  
"I'm a dwarf, and he gets to be an elf? Man this sucks,"  
  
"Quiet Gimli…" Strider murmured quietly. Gimli stopped talking.  
  
"The wizard, Gandalf the Gray,"  
  
"Mr. Gandalf…" Sam mused.  
  
Lis looked at Lee, and he leaned over to her.  
  
"He's our teacher. He'll be yours too, once class starts again."  
  
"Boromir, the man. The son of the Steward of Gondor,"  
  
Boar didn't seem as unpleased with his telling as Gimli was, nor did anyone else contest or scoff at his connections. Boar was a Steward. Any one of them could have seen that.  
  
"The hobbits, of The Shire. Gamgee, Took, BrandyBuck and Baggins. Bilbo brought the Ring to the third age, Frodo was loathed to carry it through middle earth to destroy it." The hobbits looked about proudly. Frodo and Bilbo exchanged a look before returning their eyes to Galadriel.  
  
"And Strider. A Ranger. A dangerous man. And a liar."  
  
At this, everyone looked from Strider to Galadriel and back again. Her eyes her fixed on some cloud-hidden image in the recesses of her mind. His eyes were cast down at the grass.  
  
"A liar…?" Boar breathed quietly.  
  
"He was not Strider by birth. But Aragorn, son of Arathorn. The heir of Isildiur and the rightful King of Gondor, Rohan and all points beyond."  
  
Everyone's eyes were on Strider, no, Aragorn, their eyes glazed with disbelief. All except Arwen.  
  
"You mean, Strider, I mean, Aragorn, lied to this Fellowship, his friends, about who he really was?" Boar spat out, his face calmly masking the seething anger building inside.  
  
"No. Aragorn told one other. An elf of Rivendell. His love. Elrond's fair daughter, Arwen."  
  
"My gods," Boromir stormed, getting up and pacing." So both of you…? Man. Does anyone else have any little things they'd like to share, like that they're really not who they said they were? Anyone?"  
  
"Calm down Boar. You're over reacting." Legolas stood too, trying to ease the fuming man.  
  
"Shut it Lee. I don't need any of your diplomacy right now."  
  
"Hey, he's only trying to help." Lis said quietly, surprised at herself for having said anything at all.  
  
"You? What makes you think you have the right to say anything at all? You walk in and after what, two days, you've deluded yourself into thinking you know us? You'll never even come close. You should've stayed in Mordor… trash…"  
  
The next thing anyone heard was the dull thud of Legolas' hand connecting with suppressing force with Boromir's jaw. Boar stumbled back and grabbed his mouth, moaning in pain and shock. Every eye was on them, Lee especially. No one could ever remember him looking to beautiful grotesque, anger searing through his delicate, line-less skin.  
  
"You ever talk to her that way again, and you'll be nursing more that a broken jaw, got me? Lee's voice was low and rumbling, like the sound of an approaching hurricane. Boar nodded and sat back down, and everyone looked away, wide-eyed. Lee sat down, calmly rubbing his red-knuckled hand. Lis put her own hand over her clenched fist.  
  
"You didn't have to do that."  
  
"Yes I did," he almost smiled. "I'm taking care of you now, remember?"  
  
"Mordor?" Galadriel's voice broke through the ominous silence. "You say this girl if of Mordor?"  
  
"Not really of Mordor, Drili," Arwen explained. "She just went to school there for a year."  
  
The faintest lines of a smile played across the pale, beautiful face, and Lis became frightened.  
  
"I knew I saw it here."  
  
"Saw what?" Lee asked  
  
"She may not be of Mordor. But she's marked by it sure enough. She's been tainted already by it, but not in ways that most can see."  
  
Galadriel lowered her voice to a whisper, but it seemed o carry further now then it had before.  
  
"He hurt you badly, didn't he?"  
  
Lis didn't even have to ask whom she was talking about. She knew. She nodded. No use in pretending anymore.  
  
"It's just as I thought then. Sauron has risen once more."  
  
The name made her flesh crawl. One by one, the group turned to look at Lis, her own eyes cast downward as she blushed a bright, embarrassing scarlet.  
  
"Sauron? You mean the quarter back for Mordor?" Frodo asked.  
  
"No, I mean Sauron, the Dark Lord. They are one in the same. The name doesn't matter."  
  
Lis' mind went numb. Sauron was the dark lord? How could that be? We wasn't powerful, or important anywhere outside of Mordor' walls.  
  
"important elsewhere he wants to be…" Galadriel's voice whispered through her mind, answering questions Lis dared not ask.  
  
"But if Sauron is the Dark Lord, what does that have to do with Lisaura?"  
  
Legolas's voice was calm once more, though now I was edged with concern.  
  
"Because, she has something that belongs to him. something he spent much time making and worrying over, for thousands of years."  
  
Lis looked up, her eyes rimmed with tears.  
  
"The Ring." she said simply, then the blackness claimed her again, and she collapsed, into Lee's waiting arms. 


	8. sent to bed

1 Chapter eight  
  
  
  
"Is this a habit of hers?"  
  
The company was crowded around Lis, who was lying across the bench now, sleeping.  
  
"No, Merry, it's not," Lee answered, smoothing her forehead gently. "She just has a lot on her mind." Understatement of the year, Lee thought to himself.  
  
"Yes, she does." Galadriel said quietly, still reclining in one of the willow's large, gnarled roots.  
  
"Drili, what does all this Fellowship business mean? Why do they have our names, or we have theirs, or whatever?" Boar mumbled, impatient with confusion. He gruffly turned his attentions away from Lee and Lis and towards Galadriel.  
  
"The Fellowship has been reassembled." She replied simply.  
  
"So, you mean that WE are this Fellowship you're talking about?"  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
"That doesn't make any sense." Boar huffed, throwing himself onto the grass.  
  
"Have you never wondered why you all shared such a strong bond? Did it never seem strange to you that people of so varying backgrounds and behaviors should come together as tightly as you have? You were beginning to remember who you are before I came here. You remembered you're friendship, and that is something stronger than evil, or fate."  
  
" And this, Sauron, is the Dark Lord, returned to power?"  
  
"He hasn't returned to power yet," Lee said quietly. "He doesn't have the Ring."  
  
"And Lis does?"  
  
All eyes turned to Galadriel.  
  
"Does she, Drili?"  
  
"She does not know it yet."  
  
"Then lets find it and take it from her!" Boar boomed. "She obviously cannot handle a Ring of power on her own, look at her."  
  
"That's why we're here, Boromir." Lee spat out, his old flare of anger beginning to rise.  
  
"So, what. It's our job now to protect her, even though we don't know a thing about her, and she doesn't eve know she has the fate of the known world packed up in a jewelry box in her dorm?"  
  
"Drili?" Frodo asked quietly. "If we're the fellowship, why aren't Lee and Ari elves? And Gimli and the rest of us aren't midget sized. How come?"  
  
"A fine question, my ring bearer. Through time, things change. Your soul stay the same, but the body it comes in doesn't always."  
  
"You mean, I'm the reincarnation of a Steward of Gondor?"  
  
"No, Boromir. You are the son of one."  
  
"Whatever…" he mumbled, shaking his head.  
  
"But why did Lis get saddled with the Ring? Wouldn't it make more sense for Frodo to, if he is the ring bearer?"  
  
"Ring…?" Lis's drawling voice whispered weakly through the discussion. Lee smiled, glad she was awake, while Boar huffed quietly and turned his back on them, tugging at a few blades of grass.  
  
"Hey there princess, how you feelin'?" Lee asked. He kneeled down by her side, rubbing her arms gently, while his bright eyes smiled comfortingly down at her. She nodded, a small smile tugging at her mouth. She pushed herself up, and leaned against the bench's smooth wooden arms, looking around at the concerned faces around her.  
  
"Well, this seems familiar," she smiled. Everyone else smiled to and breathed a general sigh of relief.  
  
"You sure do that a lot, Miss Corma." Bilbo said.  
  
"I must be tired. Maybe I didn't get enough to eat today, I dunno," she lied.  
  
"And maybe you're not telling us the whole truth either," Boar grumbled, shooting a look over at Arwen and Strider. "Because you're afraid we'll take your little ring away and drop it back at Mordor? Is that it?"  
  
"I…I, don't know what you're talking about…"  
  
"Afraid we'll give it back to Sauron?"  
  
Lis cringed at his name. After so long, she still couldn't hear it. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to block out the sound, but his name brought it all back.  
  
"What were to him anyway?" Boar prodded, getting up from his grassy perch and strolling to her. "You his girlfriend?" Lis shivered. "Yea, I thought you were. You look like the type that a reincarnated war lord would wanna screw."  
  
Lee went to lunge at Boar, but Strider pulled him back.  
  
"I swear man…" Lee spat out, his eyes flashing murderously.  
  
"What's wrong Lee? Jealous of Sauron cause he probably already tapped your girl?"  
  
Strider's eyes shined with exertion as he manages to pull Lee to the ground. Gimli ran over and helped to keep him down, mumbling quietly in his friend's ear.  
  
"Boar, what's gotten into you, why are you doing this?" Arwen asked, boldly, angrily walking up to him.  
  
"Like you should talk, you liar."  
  
"Quiet all of you!" Galadriel's gentle voice boomed. "You are all better than this! Why are you letting your pasts hinder you? You are not behaving like the warriors you are."  
  
"Warriors? We're warriors?" Merry squealed delightedly.  
  
"Boar, what is wrong with you? You were never one to speak your heart before? I wonder why you do so now?" Galadriel's voice was soft and pleading as if that liquid sound alone could find an answer to her question.  
  
And it did.  
  
"Ah, yes. I understand now. The ring has a power over you, my good Boromir. Do not underestimate its power. Or your own."  
  
He stood there, his large chest rising and falling with each slightly labored breath. His eyes gleamed strangely, disturbingly, and his eyes were focus coldly on Lis.  
  
"Why don't you just give it to us? Its our job to protect it, not yours."  
  
"I don't have it!" she suddenly screamed.  
  
"She tells the truth. The ring is not hers to give. Not yet at any rate."  
  
Lee stood up slowly and sat down next to Lis, putting his arm protectively around her tense shoulders. Lis relaxed a little into his side, and looked over at him apologetically.  
  
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have said anything…" she whispered. Lee shushed her quietly, then turned his attentions to Boromir, his eyes smoldering, though the rest of him seemed calm enough.  
  
"Don't you think it's time to turn in, big guy?" he managed cordially through clenched teeth. Boromir glared back.  
  
"I will NOT be sent to bed like a three-year-old."  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed." Galadriel spoke up. Arwen rushed to her side and offered her a hand climbing out of the tree trunk. "Good night everyone, see you in the morning. Good Night, Lis." And with that, she disappeared into the Willow Grove surrounding them.  
  
"Um, we're gonna go in too. Night." Merry called over his shoulder as he grabbed Pippin, Frodo and Bilbo, ushering them back up the trail they'd followed down.  
  
"Night Lis. I'll see you tomorrow, yes?" he asked, his eyes wide and shyly expectant.  
  
"You bet Frodo." She managed a smile, and Frodo gave her a wave before heading back to the Pen.  
  
Arwen, Strider and Gimli started back too, the three of them whispering hurriedly. Lis could see Strider and Arwen's hands interlaced together and managed a small smile. At least they didn't have to pretend anymore, she thought. Lucky them.  
  
"Come on Lis, lets get you to bed, shall we?" Lee smiled as he stood and pulled her to her feet. "You feel alright?" Lis nodded and managed a smile as Lee offered her his arm and she thankfully slipped hers through. "Shall I see you to your door, milady?" he mockingly asked. Lis smiled. "Good, good, you're smiling. That's always a good sign."  
  
The two slowly made their way through the clearing, Lis's steps small and shaky, but Legolas's strong hold kept her from falling.  
  
"Night, Lis. Sleep tight." Boar muttered quietly as they passed him. Lis tried not to look at him, but Lee glared over her head at Boar. A silent warning passed between the two, and Lis got the terrible feeling that this was only the beginning of something.  
  
They left Boromir behind as the shadowy folds of the woods closed around them.  
  
"Lee?" She whispered.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Promise me something." Lee nodded quietly.  
  
"Promise me you won't do anything to Boar."  
  
"No."  
  
"No?"  
  
"I won't promise anything of the kind. If he pulls something like he did tonight, I'm gonna make sure Gimli and Strider aren't around to hold me back. That Neanderthal has no right to speak to that way. He has no clue what you've been through, none of them do…" she interrupted him.  
  
"And I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want them to know, Legolas. Promise me you won't do anything rash, please."  
  
"For your sake. But I don't like it, Lis. I don't. He shouldn't be able to get away with that."  
  
"You're sweet." She whispered, reaching up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. Lee's face didn't move, but his insides felt like they were exploding. It was all he could do to keep from screaming and jumping all over the grove, but that inner peace he was famous for claimed him, keeping him from letting go of her, which was just as wonderful.  
  
The two continued out of the woods, completely unaware of the muffled footsteps that followed them out and the keen ears that moved silently among the shadows. 


	9. girl talk

Notice: know, I said no more of these. But I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reviewing, it makes me feel really spiffy. I'm glad you like the story, I honestly didn't think anyone would. There ya are. Now, this chapter WILL answer questions, I know that for a fact. Not all of them, but… well, just read.  
  
1 Chapter nine  
  
  
  
There were clouds, no, mists, swirling. Many colors, lights flashing softly. And a banging sound. No, not a banging, a knocking, a soft knocking.  
  
Lis sat up in bed, her dream quickly evaporating. The soft knocking was coming from her door, and she mumbled something of a "come in." as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. Arwen stuck her head in.  
  
"Hey, you up?"  
  
"Yea, pretty much" Lis drawled as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.  
  
"Sorry to bother you," Arwen trilled as she bounced, plopping down on the bed next to Lis. "But thought you might want some help."  
  
"Help? Help with what?"  
  
"With what? Oh!" Arwen clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, I totally forgot to tell you!"  
  
"Tell me what?" Lis asked, becoming worried.  
  
"The start of semester dance!"  
  
"The what?"  
  
"The start of semester dance. Classes start in two days, the Sunday before, we have a dance. It's kinda tradition… I dunno. Maybe it's out of date, but you have to go. It's a rule."  
  
"A dance? Tonight?" Lis's face went pale.  
  
"I know, after everything that's happened, it's really not the best timing. But maybe a dance is what we need, hmm? Ya know, a chance to get all glamorous…" Arwen stretched out across Lis's bed, fluttering her eyelashes and pouting her mouth dramatically. Lis laughed.  
  
"A dance, eh? Well, it doesn't sound too painful." Lis said, getting up and stretching. "Oh wait! I was supposed to meet Frodo today."  
  
"Oh, yea, Frodo came by a few minutes ago. Said he'd have to cancel. I think he remembered too." Arwen said as she sat up, smoothing out Lis's sheets absent-mindedly.  
  
"Lis, can I ask you a semi-personal question?"  
  
"Sure, Ari. What's up?"  
  
"Now, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."  
  
"Ari, what is it?"  
  
"Well, I was just wondering what's going on with you and Frodo is all."  
  
"Oh…" Lis's face became quiet.  
  
"Like I said you don't have to answer if you don't want."  
  
"No, no. It's not a problem. I, um, we're just friends. Really. Why?"  
  
"No reason. I just noticed that you've been spending a lot of time together."  
  
"Well, he's really nice."  
  
"Oh, no question."  
  
"And he's terribly smart. I've never met anyone that could translate the Anigua from it's original elfish. He's really something."  
  
"Uh-hunh…" Arwen's smiled knowingly.  
  
"No, no, nothing like that. It's just, over in Mordor there wee so few people that liked to read anything, let alone the Anigua. It's so, nice. Ya know? I feel like I have a real friend now. I never had anything even remotely close to that at Mordor."  
  
"You really hated it there, didn't you?"  
  
"You have no idea." Lis managed a laugh, but Arwen could see that her eyes were darting about uncertainly.  
  
"What happened there Lis," Arwen ventured. Lis stopped moving.  
  
"You don't want to know."  
  
"Yes I do. Dad's been really worried about Ridley, did you know that?"  
  
"Worried? Why?" Lis's face grew concerned.  
  
"He's just not talking to anyone. And he never smiles. His teachers are concerned about him, and so is dad. And I'm concerned about you. This is what, twice that you've fainted?"  
  
"No. three times." Lis attempted a smile, but Arwen's face remained serious.  
  
"What happened Lis. Please. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, I understand. But tell someone. You can't keep it with you like this. Its not healthy."  
  
"I… I don't know if I can… Ari, you just don't understand…"  
  
"Then help me to," she said softly. Ari took Lis's hands in her own and sat her down on the bed, looking comfortingly at her.  
  
Lis sighed, and resigned herself to talking.  
  
"Once upon a time, there was a little family. A happy one. Most families are before things happen to them. The parents were jewelers. The best in the country. That was the Corma's. If you wanted anything done, and wanted it done right, you went to them. They're children, Lisaura and Ridley, were not as artistically inclined as their parents were. Lisaura was a scholar, head of her class. Ridley was an athlete, all star quarterback, and captain of the soccer team, a leader and a fighter. The two children couldn't be closer."  
  
"Then, their parents died. And they were left alone. They sold their house, the one they grew up in, and moved to a smaller apartment. With the inheritance that was left to them, they paid for food and clothes, and enrolled in Mordor, because it was free and close to them. That proved to be a mistake."  
  
"Mordor seemed normal enough, a bit dark during the day, but nothing to be worried about. Ridley quickly joined to football team, making friends with everyone who mattered. Lis contented herself with staying in the library and reading, making a few friend herself of the social out-casts or Mordor. That also proved to be a mistake."  
  
"It soon happened, that the football team became aquatinted with Ridley's bookish sister. After the games, she'd cook for them and they'd stay at the sibling's apartment. She happened to catch the eye of Sauron, the Captain of the Football team at Mordor. Sauron was," Lis stalled, her throat tight with memories. "He was wonderful. He was handsome, no doubt about that. More of a man than a boy. He was more mature than the other players were. He read Shakespeare, listened to Mozart, a true Renaissance man. Why he decided to pick Lis no one knew, lest of all her. But no one dared ask. Sauron was like a God at Mordor, and his will was never questioned. Lis thought herself very lucky. Sauron was the most popular boy in school, and he was hers. He treated Ridley like his own brother and would cover for him when the forgetful young man would miss assignments."  
  
"Things continued in this happy vein for a month or so. That's when things began to fall apart again for the orphaned pair."  
  
"Sauron became, angry. All the time. Lis couldn't explain why, or how. She tried to calm him whenever they were together, but she was met only with angry words. Brusque remarks that soon gave way to insults. After a while, the insults gave way to slaps. To pushes, punches, scratches and throws." Lis's face was calm as she lowered the font of her shirt. Arwen gasped as she saw a large, murky-purple stained bruise on her collarbone. Ari reached out slowly and brushed her hand across her skin. Lis shuddered slightly.  
  
"Oh, Lis, I'm so sorry…" Ari whispered, her wide eyes lightly rimmed with the slightest misting of tears.  
  
"Lis never told her brother what happened. But then Sauron turned his, anger, on the boy. That was when Lis decided to leave Mordor, and the makeshift home the two had forged. A week later, they left their apartment, leaving most of their furniture and belongings, and made for Rivendell. They were accepted into the school, the tuition using up most of their inheritance. There, they prayed they would be safe from Mordor, and everyone connected with it."  
  
"So, there you have it. No happy ending I'm afraid." Lis laughed lightly. Ari could see that talking had taken its toll on her, but her eyes shone slightly. With relief, Ari told herself.  
  
"I actually feel a little bit better now. Thanks I guess." Lis smiled a bit. Ari through her arms about the girl and pulled her into a warm long hug.  
  
"You are safe now Lis, I swear. Dad's not gonna let anything happen to you. Neither are the rest of us," Ari smiled mischievously, "Especially Lee."  
  
Lis pulled away from her, her face wide and excitedly curious.  
  
"What about Lee? What do you mean?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Ari answered, waltzing off he bed, a coy smile on her face. "Just something nice he said about you yesterday when you were at the hobbit's studying…"  
  
"What?!" Lis squeaked girlishly.  
  
Arwen smiled, proud of herself for getting the poor girl focused on a decidedly more delightful topic than her past.  
  
"Oh, nothing, just that he thought you were very nice, and very smart, and…"  
  
"And…? Come Ari tell, me!"  
  
"And that you were by far the most perfect girl ever put on this earth."  
  
Lis's face dropped.  
  
"He actually said that?"  
  
Arwen nodded, and Lis threw herself onto her bed with a cacophony of squeals and giggles.  
  
"Alright, ms thang, get up. If you wanna knock the boy dead at the dance tonight, we gotta get you ready."  
  
Lis sat up and nodded, but for the next few hours, her mind was floating on a cloud far away from the likes of Mordor. 


	10. mackin' it

1 Chapter ten  
  
  
  
"Gah! I hate dances." Merry fumed as he played with his potatoes, spearing them with his highly polished silver spoon.  
  
"It's not a dance," Pippin corrected, "It's a formal. And I don't see why you're so unhappy. I've never seen so many freshmen in my life." He said, his eyes roaming gleefully over the young, tastefully exposed girls who giggled in every corner of the room.  
  
"There's more to life than girls." Frodo commented from his chair.  
  
"Of course you're one to talk." Pippin retorted.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Oh, come off it. We know what's going on with you and Lis."  
  
"Me and… Lis?" Frodo's face was one of utter exasperation.  
  
"Yea, so I hardly think you're one to talk to me about girls."  
  
"Wait, wait, wait. You don't think that Lis, and me…?" Frodo laughed. "Oh man. You are so wrong. We're just friends man, she's like a sister. Lis?" Frodo's face scrunched up at the thought and laughed again.  
  
Although none of the other hobbits would've admitted it, they all mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Having two friends date was difficult, and they were just getting used to the idea of Arwen and Strider. Besides, letting a girl interrupt the hobbit's way of life was something that none of them, most especially Frodo, was prepared to do.  
  
The hobbits all sat at one table, as was custom, off to the side of the extremely large dinning hall. It had been decorated in its annual splendor of silver and green, Rivendell's colors. The walls were swathed in green bunting, the tables were draped with green velvets and everywhere, little silver candles glistened wherever a holder could rest. It was magnificent, to say the least, even by Rivendell's standards. The large room was crowded with people, old and new. Teachers in sleek black tuxes and fine, but simple gowns, buzzed about the room like gracious hosts. Mr. Elrond sat at the head table, beaming proudly at everything.  
  
The girls were, fashionably late, as it were. Boromir, Strider, Gimli and Legolas all stood restlessly about the room, each one checking their watches and the doors for the slightest bit of movement.  
  
"Damn girls." Gimli mumbled under his breath. Boar nodded in agreement.  
  
"They'll be here." Lee said quietly, still straining his politeness whenever he was near Boar. Gimli grunted quietly and shuffled off impatiently, mumbling about getting something to drink. Strider followed, leaving Boar and Lee alone.  
  
"I don't understand you Lee," Boar started quietly. Lee just stood there, keeping his eyes on the door, his jaw rigid with the onslaught of restraint.  
  
"You used to be such a cool guy. So funny, so smart. Now, look at you. You've thrown it all away to protect a liar. Honestly man, do you need a piece of ass that bad?"  
  
Don't hit him, don't hit him, Lee kept repeating quietly in his head. His promise to Lis was the only thing holding him back now.  
  
But he wondered, in the deepest part of himself if Boar wasn't right. He and Boar used to be the best of friends. There was a time when you couldn't tear the two apart. And now what had it come to? He wanted to hit him so hard every muscle in his lithe arms strained. Over what? A girl. Granted, a very pretty, and extremely troubled girl. But was she worth it? Was she worth throwing away everything for? Boar already hated him, who would hate him next? Lee's stomach grew uneasy as he found that he didn't have the answer to any of his questions, and that unsettled him. Because his answer was not a definite yes.  
  
Lis wasn't as important to him as he'd thought, perhaps.  
  
His face fell, ever so slightly, and he hurried away into a darkened corner, his mind buzzing louder than the freshmen that passed. Boar watched him go, the smallest hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.  
  
Soon enough, the girls did show.  
  
The Arwen led the way, with Galadriel close behind, the two sisters clinging to each other affectionately. They were both smiling, their faces all the brighter for it. They were wearing matching silver dresses, long and flowing, just like they were. They absolutely sparkled as they passed among the tables. Arwen almost immediately made a beeline for Strider, leaving a much more civil Boromir to grab Galadriel's hand and lead her to a table.  
  
"Oh, Boromir," she smiled quietly. "Good, I've been meaning to talk to you."  
  
"What about, my lovely?" Boar smiled earnestly as he sat her down and pulled up a chair next to her.  
  
"I want you to be careful."  
  
"About…?"  
  
"Lisaura."  
  
Boar's face darkened.  
  
"She's not like you Boar. She isn't built to weather well. She's got scars. Kinds you'll never see. Be gentle with her."  
  
"Gentle? What do mean gentle? The girl's lying about the Ring, Drili, you know it and I know it."  
  
"I know no such thing, Boar," she said quietly. "All I do know is that she and the ring have a tighter bond that she yet knows."  
  
"That's bull." He mumbled. Drili laughed quietly and lifted her hand, letting it rest gently on his stubbly cheek.  
  
"Oh, my poor Boromir. You never did know how to look at things properly, did you?"  
  
Boar pulled away from her.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't be so patronizing." He mumbled.  
  
"I do it because no one else will." She answered, her sightless face serious. "Everyone is too afraid of you to tell you when you're wrong. You will never have such an allowance from me. I have always said exactly what I think to you, and I always will."  
  
"And what do you think now?" he said, his voice sounding tired, and far older than his years.  
  
"I think that you're letting your desire cloud your rational thinking."  
  
"My desires? What on earth are you talking about?"  
  
A small smile glanced across her face and she nodded towards the door. Boar looked at her, confusedly for a moment, then turned his head towards the door, and his breath stopped.  
  
It was Lis. It was Lis, but she was absolutely exquisite. Her fiery golden hair was down, not in its usual braids. She was wearing the silver dress of Avalon, the suggested uniform for the dances. Arwen and Galadriel had always made the medival dresses lovely, but Lisaura's body in it did something far more cherubic to it. An astonished gasp escaped his throat before he could stop himself, and it was met with the light laughter of the beauty by his side.  
  
"You ask answered questions." She chuckled.  
  
"What, what do you mean? I do not want her. I only want her to give us the Ring." He stammered, his eyes still glued to Lis. She walked so gracefully, so, regally. She didn't belong here, he thought, she belongs in a palace, or in a church to be worshiped.  
  
"How long will you lie to yourself, my dear friend?"  
  
"I'm tired of this talk, Drili." He pushed away and brushed his hand against her shoulder, signaling his departure. He hoped his voice was stronger than it had sounded in his ears. His entire body seemed to be floating with her in his eyes.  
  
Lis, however, didn't feel as beautiful as she looked.  
  
No one was looking at her, which was a mixed blessing. Being watched was never something she had gotten used to, even during her brief stint as Sauron's trophy girlfriend. But on the other hand, Lee wasn't looking at her. He wasn't even there, for all she could see. She frowned slightly as she realized that four-hour's worth of primping and being Arwen's temporary Barbie doll had all been in vain. She sighed, and let her eyes roam about the room in search of a friendly face. Arwen and Strider were out on the dance floor, twirling about happily. Arwen's hair flung about her shoulders as she moved, and her dress (almost identical to the one Lis was wearing) spun around her long legs as she laughed, cradled in Strider's strong arms. Lis smiled in spite of herself. She always did like romances. Frodo's laugh caught her ear next, and she eagerly looked about for him. she found him, and the rest of the hobbits, at their table, surrounded by a group of ecstatic looking girls. Lis smiled a bit more as she watched the five young men flirt unabashedly, a look of pure excitement shining in their friendly eyes.  
  
Gimli she spotted next to a long table with a glass of punch in one hand, excitedly discussing something with three or four older looking boys. Lis resigned herself to a lonely evening, and strolled out onto the porch surrounding the building.  
  
The night was chilly and clear. The stars swept through the night sky like powder sugar, and a small breeze whipped through the oak trees, swaying their majestic forms with a peaceful rustling. Lis leaned her arm on the porch's railing and sighed. A perfectly good night, she thought, but no one to share it with.  
  
"Nice night, huh?"  
  
the deep, melodic voice shook her out of her dreaming, and she looked over her shoulder.  
  
Boromir met her eyes.  
  
She gasped a bit, and snapped her attentions back towards the grounds below her. Boar walked up and leaned on the railings next to her, keeping his gaze out as well, though with no little strain on his part.  
  
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, turning her stoically curious gaze to him. "I thought you wanted to kill me?"  
  
"No. um, sorry. I guess it did seem that way, didn't it?" he sheepishly scratched his head and shrugged. "Its just that I saw you walking out here, and you looked kinda down, and I thought, it being such a nice night and all, I'd, uh keep you company?"  
  
Lis just stared at him. why was he acting this way? It made no sense what so ever. Two nights ago, he had been willing to drag her kicking and screaming through the Willow Grove to find the Ring, wherever it was.  
  
"Really, Lis," he said, his voice suddenly soft and velvety. "I'm sorry about the way I acted before. I guess I just keep doing and saying the wrong thing around you, don't I?" his gaze was full on her now, and it unnerved her. His eyes were so intense, so searching, she didn't know what he expected from her. Information? The Ring?  
  
"I don't know where the Ring is, Boromir." She whispered, edging away from him slightly. Boar slipped his arms around her, framing her and almost pinning her to the railing. Lis looked up at him, her eyes wide, too suprized to know what to do.  
  
"I don't care about the ring, Lis. Damnit girl cant you see that I'm in love with you?"  
  
Lis's eyes flew open. In love with her? How? It made no sense. But before she had anytime to think through things, his mouth was on hers, pressing hard and hungry. Lis squirmed, and pulled away, Boar's arms keeping her in place well enough. He opened his eyes and stared down at her, slightly taken aback. He shrugged, and leaned in again as if for another kiss, when Lis's hand flashed, and slapped him. the sound echoed through the muted quiet of the porch, and it seemed like they stood there forever in the night air, not moving.  
  
That's the whoosh came. Lis didn't know what it was before it hit her, and then she was dead sure. Boar's hand. His face contorted violently, and for the briefest of moments, Lis thought she was looking at Sauron. Then he hit her, sweeping his powerfully broad hand across her decidedly smaller cheek. Lis's head snapped to the side, and Boar pulled his arms away in time to let her fall to the floor beside him.  
  
"Tease." She grunted through clenched teeth. He pulled his foot back, and brought it down hard into her side. Lis's gargled in pain, the wind knocked out of her. She tried to crawl away from him, but couldn't, and lay there instead, sobbing, her hair rumpled around her pain-contorted face.  
  
Boar huffed out a curt laugh, and turned to leave. But he never made it that far. Through the quiet din of crickets and the low hum of he party inside, Lis heard the distinctive sound of a punch. Lis looked up, brushing her hair out of her face with a shaky hand.  
  
Boar was doubled over, his face contorted in pain. Lee was standing above him, his own face twisted with rage.  
  
Lis had never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life.  
  
Lee sent another punch to Boar's face as he tried to stand, and watched as his mountain-like friend fell to his knees, then collapsed onto his side, whimpering sincerely.  
  
Lee rushed to Lis and kneeled by her, his rage replaced with pure concern and love? Lis thought. No, it was probably her teary eyes blurring her vision.  
  
"Are you alright?" he whispered gently. Lis nodded, trying to sit up, but Less swung his arms around her, picking her up as he stood. He rushed her off he deck and down a few stairs, heading for the Willow Grove, leaving Boar behind, sobbing. 


	11. Corma

Chapter eleven  
  
  
  
"You did what?" Arwen gaped at Boromir.  
  
"I hit Lis." He whispered quietly.  
  
Arwen just stared at him in disbelief. Galadriel sat calmly on a stone bench, nodding quietly. Arwen had spotted Boar lying on his side on the porch and, with Drili adamantly by her side, had helped him to a little ivy- covered arbor near the dinning hall, away from prying eyes.  
  
"I warned you…" Drili lilted, shaking her head. Boar just stared at her, his face fallen.  
  
"Please, don't give me an 'I told you so' speech, because I don't want to hear it. Not right now." He moaned, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"God, Boar," Arwen said, her face vacant with shock, "You act as if you don't even care."  
  
"Of course I care!" He burst, rising to his feet suddenly, his eyes flashing. "Of course, I care. Do you have any idea how I feel right now? I hit her, Ari. I reached back, and smacked her half way to Mordor. She's crying right now probably, and it's my fault. Of course I care." He panted a bit, calming down. "And now Lee hates me. God, I didn't know he could hit so hard." He groaned as he rubbed his side, wincing.  
  
"I think there is much to your friend that you do not yet know." Drili said.  
  
"Damnit! Why can't you once, just once, give a straight answer? If you had told me anything near what I needed to hear tonight, none of this would've happened!" Boar boomed. Drili's cloudy eyes flashed. Arwen saw this and ducked out quietly, heading back for the dance before the inevitable broke loose.  
  
"What you need to hear? Alright. Sit down." She barked, and he obeyed, his eyes gone suddenly wide and almost, fearful.  
  
"Here's what you need to hear. Did you know that you failed the Fellowship in Middle Earth?" Boar shook his head, somewhat dumfounded. Drili seemed to wait for his unseen reaction and continued.  
  
"You, and you alone tried to steal the Ring from its bearer. You betrayed your brothers-in-arms, your family, your land, and most importantly, you betrayed yourself. All because of one little Ring. And now, here you are, years later. Doing the same thing."  
  
Boar just stared at the ground, despairingly, when something occurred to him.  
  
"But that's not what happened, Drili. All I went after was Lis," his voice faltered for a moment, "not the ring."  
  
"You still do not see the plain truth, do you?"  
  
"What plain truth? You tell me that I betrayed the Fellowship for the Ring. I don't even know where the ring is." his voice was quiet and steady, a world of painful truth wrinkling across his young face. "I betrayed them for Lis."  
  
Drili nodded quietly, and suddenly the world fell into place for Boromir, and he collapsed onto the bench, awe-struck.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Lee stopped moving once they entered the clearing in the Willow Grove. The moon was the only one watching the two now, the moon and the trees, and they never told secrets. He set Lis down on the grass, leaning her up against a lithe tree trunk.  
  
"I'm alright, really. You don't have to make such a fuss," she protested and tried to get up. She winced in pain, grabbing at her side, and resigned herself to staying on the grass, for now.  
  
"See? What did I tell you?" Lee whispered, a reassuring smile on his face. "You need to trust me. I'm your caretaker, remember?" Lee shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Lis's propped up knees. He tugged at the tie around his neck and pulled it off, dropping next to him as he unbuttoned the first few buttons on his dress shirt.  
  
"Man, I hate dances, don't you?" Lis smiled.  
  
"Yea, I guess so."  
  
Lee sat across from her, his eyes calmly glued to her face. She's exquisite, he thought, I'll kill Boar for this.  
  
"Thank you." Lis whispered, her eyes on the ground.  
  
"Don't thank me. I did what any good friend would do."  
  
Lis nodded slowly, and Lee wondered if there wasn't even the slightest bit melancholy in her eyes.  
  
"How do you feel?"  
  
"Sore. But it heals. Trust me, I know." She offered him a sheepishly reassuring smile, but Lee couldn't find it in him to return it. "It'll bruise pretty bad for a week of so, probably be sore. Then nothing. I'm a fast healer."  
  
"Please, Lis. I… I don't like seeing you like this." He reached out a hand, almost as if to touch her cheek, but seemed to think better of it and let it rub her knee instead.  
  
"it's alright, really. Don't worry so much. I'll be right as rain in a few days, no worries."  
  
"Yes, worries. What if Boar tries something again? He's way bigger than you are, Lis, he could crush you if he wanted."  
  
"But he doesn't want."  
  
"what do you mean, he doesn't want? Of course he does. What do think he was doing tonight, asking you to dance?"  
  
"Damnit girl, I love you…" his words echoed in her mind like knife stabs. Why would he do that if he loved her? But then again, why did Sauron do it? She shivered at the thought of comparing Sauron to Boar, they were nothing alike. Were they?  
  
"Lee?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Why were you outside tonight? I didn't see you earlier, and then all of a sudden, you show up."  
  
"Well, I saw you, my little princess," he teased, getting a smile from Lis. "and I decided to follow Boar when I saw where he was going."  
  
"So," she smiled "You were spying on me?"  
  
"Of course I was." He joked, his eyes hinting at something serious. "You're my business, remember? Besides, I don't trust Boar. Not now. Not ever again." His face fell, and he suddenly got up, pacing.  
  
"Ya know, he warned me about this, Boar did. He told me I was throwing away everything on a girl I didn't know. Which is true. I don't know anything about you except for this one, terrifying incident that's implanted in my brain. I don't know you're favorite color, or what your third grade teacher's name was, I know nothing about you. But you're in here all the time." Lee pointed to his head, then let his hand slide, slightly uncertain, to his chest.  
  
"And the truth be told, I love it. God Lis, I know you've been through more than I can ever hope to understand, and that this is the last thing you need to hear, but I've got say it. I can go on being just your protector anymore." He lowered his voice slightly and the gentle, rumbling cooing made a quick blush bloom in Lis's cheeks. "I cant pretend to be something I'm not. And I'm not your friend, Lis."  
  
She gasped slightly, her eyes flying open wide. Lee responded by quickly kneeling by her side, bridging the gap that had stood between them for far too long.  
  
"You are like, oxygen to me now. I cant breath without you around. I can't think straight when you're near me, and I can't think of anything but you when you're not. I hate Boar, probably the best friend I've ever had, because he hurt the only thing I've ever wanted," Lis's eyes widened even more.  
  
"And because he's done the one thing I've waned to ever since I saw you."  
  
Lee's voice grew low as he leaned into her. Lis's let her eyes close, and was soon reveling in the feel of his lips against hers. Soft and smooth, and warm. He tasted like the forests, like volumes of wood-lore was locked inside of him, escaping in tiny breaths that he shared with her alone.  
  
Boar hadn't kissed her like this. Neither had Sauron. But neither of them had loved her the way he loved her. And that made all the difference.  
  
Lee pulled away, finally, his face calm, but his eyes stormy with the kindest of emotions. He smiled at her and pressed his forehead against hers with a small sigh. Lis smiled, relieved, and let a hand snake its way up his body, her fingers tapping against his well-chiseled stomach and chest muscles, his long, smooth neck, and finally resting on his cheek, warm and soft.  
  
"Did you know that 'cormacolindor' is elfish for 'ring-bearer'?"  
  
Drili's sweetly drawling voice broke through their peace. They both looked up, startled, to see Galadriel sitting in a nearby tree-root, Boromir by her side.  
  
"What do you want?" Lee asked defensively, immediately standing as if to prepare for battle.  
  
" 'cormacolindor' pretty, isn't it?"  
  
Lis stared up at the blind seer, speechless.  
  
"Do you know how the words break down from that? Conlido means bearer, and Corma," Drili paused, turning her blind gaze on Lis, "means Ring."  
  
Lis looked at Drili for a moment, dumbfounded, when she suddenly realized.  
  
"I'm apart of the Fellowship too," she muttered, as Drili nodded, smiling.  
  
"I'm the Ring." 


	12. callings

Chapter twelve  
  
  
  
"The Ring?" Lee whispered. Lis dared a look up into his face and saw it dumbfounded, utterly shocked. He was no longer confidant, just confused. Lis feared she had lost him.  
  
"But that's impossible," Lee muttered quietly. "She can't be the Ring. She's a person, not a Ring."  
  
"Forms change through the years, Legolas. Just as Frodo is not pocket sized, and you are not exquisite with pointed ears, the Ring is no longer a ring."  
  
"But why not?"  
  
Drili shrugged. "I only see fate, I cannot read its will."  
  
Lee reached out and leaned against the tree trunk, his usually composed body beginning to sway. Lis just sat there, huddled in a root, her eyes fixed on Boar.  
  
"That's why…" she whispered to him, and he nodded quietly.  
  
"I'm so sorry Lis." His voice was soft and rough, haggard by an evening of tears that left his eyes red and raw.  
  
A flash of light seemed to sear her mind, and Lis grabbed her head in pain. Images bean to cut through her, visions, memories. She saw all as it was, Middle Earth, Rivendell, Mrodor, Sauron, the Fellowship. Fingers reaching for her, fires licking up all of her body. And Boromir, chasing her through the woods. But it wasn't her. She rest carefully on Frodo's chest, suspended by a chain. Boar wanted her. Wanted the Ring. wanted the power.  
  
That was it.  
  
They had never wanted her, they had wanted what she would give them, Power. Lis suddenly felt very alone, and very useless. Her mind calmed slowly, a thin mist of days still floating about, but Lis wasn't paying attention to it. She was shivering violently, a cold desolation washing over her.  
  
"Nor for me…" she mumbled quietly, rocking back and forth. Lee happened to look down and noticed her. His face clouded and he kneeled by her side.  
  
"Lis?"  
  
"Not for me," she repeated dazedly. "Not for me… just for the Power…" Lis stopped swaying and snapped out of her reverie. She looked up at Lee, and her eyes immediately began to tear.  
  
"Lis, what's wrong?" he probed, his eyes worried.  
  
"You never wanted me." Was all she could manage out, her throat closing with the threatening onslaught of tears.  
  
"What?" he nearly laughed, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You never wanted me, just like Boar didn't, and Sauron didn't. they didn't want me, they wanted Power. That's all I am. I'm means to an end, nothing more."  
  
Lee chuckled, then reached out his hand and gently slid it down her cheek. Lis felt the urge to pull away, but she had wanted his touch for so long she couldn't bear to leave it now.  
  
"You're infuriating sometimes, did you know that?" he asked, a gentle smile playing on his face.  
  
"I will have you know that true artists, and apparently Elves, do not believe in power. I never even saw the ring in you. Not like they did. Trust me, please. I know I have no proof, except my word. I never saw you as anything other than," Lee swallowed, the merriment gone from his eyes now, replaced by the fear that comes with the voicing of souls, "As anything other than the most, astounding person I've ever had the honor of knowing. You are, beautiful, Lis. And I don't care if you're a ring, or a scarecrow, or whatever. As long as I can call you, YOU, mine, I won't care. I love you Lis. You, not what you can give me."  
  
Lis looked back at him, trying to read his eyes. It didn't take her long. All she needed to know from him was lying there. She inhaled, breathing him in deeply. He smelt of mossy woods and sunny fields. Her mind flashed and she saw Legolas, as he once was, a proud elf prince. Beautiful. But his hands her not reaching for her from Frodo's neck. His eyes did not peer lustily at her while Frodo slept as Boromir had. He watched, he protected. He loved.  
  
And that's when Lis collapsed into his arms, weeping.  
  
Lee pulled her into him, nestling his cheek into her hair, sighing. She always felt right in my arms, he thought. This is where she belongs.  
  
Boar watched quietly from behind Drili, his eyes still.  
  
"Will she be alright?" he asked softly.  
  
"She will be now." Drili smiled.  
  
"But what will happen now? What's to become of her now that, well, now that we know what she is?"  
  
"That," Drili answered darkly, "Is for the Fellowship to decide."  
  
Boar nodded and silently moved off through the woods, searching for the Ring's protectors once again. 


	13. the council

Chapter thirteen  
  
  
  
Boar worked quickly, and before too long everyone that needed to hear was buzzing with the news of the Ring. Slowly they dropped from the social, their gait steady and secretive, and made their way to the Grove. When they arrived, benches had been set up in front of the nine pillars surrounding the clearing, and each was obliged to take a seat. Galadriel sat in her usual spot, onto top of a massive tree root. Lis was seated on a small pillow in the middle of the clearing, Lee whispering lowly by her side.  
  
Soon the clearing was filled with all that needed to fill it, and Lee was obliged to take to his own bench, leaving Lis alone and the scrutiny of ten pairs of friendly, but confused eyes.  
  
"Drili, what's this we hear about the Ring being found? Where is it?" Pippin spoke up, and the clearing was filled with mumbles along a similar vein of questioning. Through it all, Lee and Boar remained silent, each one eyeing the other precariously.  
  
Galadriel held up her hand and the clamor stopped.  
  
"True, the ring has been found."  
  
"And did it lie with Lis as you said it would?" Strider asked, Arwen routinely by his side.  
  
"Yes, Lis has discovered she was in possession of it."  
  
"Finally…" Gimli sighed, and Boar and Lee both shot him a silencing look.  
  
"But Drili," Arwen spoke up, "If Lis had it, why didn't she know it until now? Where was it hiding from her?"  
  
All eyes were now on Lis, and she answered in a soft voice.  
  
"Well, the truth is, I am the Ring." she ventured, receiving gasps from most.  
  
"You are… the Ring?" Gimli stuttered. "That's impossible."  
  
The company nodded in agreement.  
  
"It's not sound for the Ring to be reformed as a human," Sam said.  
  
"Nonetheless, it is the truth." Drili said. The group fell silent as an awed hush fell over them. If Drili said it, it was gospel, however outlandish it might seem.  
  
"I can't believe it…" Frodo breathed. He looked her over quietly, dumbstruck.  
  
"Well, what is to happen now?" Strider asked. Boar and Lee sat up now, suddenly interested.  
  
"That is why you have been reassembled," Drili explained. "The fate of Middle Earth once more hangs in the balance."  
  
"That is ridiculous!" Merry chuckled. "Do you mean to say that just because Lis has figured out who she really is, that the end of the world is pre-eminent?"  
  
"Tell me of your dreams, Merry." Drili asked quietly. Merry's face fell.  
  
"My dreams?"  
  
"Yes, your dreams, Merry. All of you. Do not tell me you haven't been having bizarre dreams lately." She looked over the Fellowship and they each began to nod. "You are remembering who you are. The past is being made shown to you. But, do you think that you are the only ones who are reawakening?"  
  
"Mordor too is beginning to stir. Sauron is beginning to remember all that you are, and that means Lis is in danger." Lee straightened at these words. His eyes locked with Lis's, which shined with the threat of tears.  
  
"What are we to do then?" He asked, his voice shaky.  
  
"We must keep her here." Strider answered assuredly. "Mordor cannot come to Rivendell, Mr. E forbids it. We need only to make sure she never leaves these grounds and she is safe."  
  
"At what price?" Frodo spoke. "You would make her a prisoner here? And what happens when we graduate? We cannot stay here. What then? What is the Ring without the Fellowship… and its ring bearer…" Frodo grinned sheepishly down at her, and Lis smiled back, glad for a friend.  
  
"What do you propose then?" Boromir asked. "Should we all move in together and keep her with us?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." Pippin joked. Boromir silently agreed with him.  
  
"Drili," Frodo asked, "How can we be sure Mordor is awakening? And if it is, why should we suspect they know about Lis?"  
  
"Sauron knows. He's known for a while. In fact, I believe it was the Ring that reawakened him." Drili's eyes beat down on Lis and she understood. Her bruises were a sign of his past. His shadows. She had been lucky though. She never knew the full extent of his cruelty, though in the brief moments of solitude that she found, daydreams of fires and screams in the darkness riddled her thoughts. Her past was such a disembodied thing. It was like she was watching the world pass her by, but she felt nothing about it. She didn't care about the blood that splashed onto her, the mud she was dragged through, the fires she was forged in, none of it mattered. Nothing mattered. The complaisance frightened Lis.  
  
Lee watched Lis precariously. He knew what Drili was talking about and almost jumped out of his seat when he saw Lis squirm uneasily.  
  
"So, what's the plan?" he said, trying to take the attention off of her, for a little while.  
  
"I say we keep her." Strider said. The hobbits nodded in approval, as did Gimli and Arwen. Frodo and Boar didn't move.  
  
"I just don't like the idea of keeping her cooped up here for the rest of her days is all. I mean, she never asked for this."  
  
"Neither did we, Frodo," Gimli burst out suddenly. "I know I certainly never wanted to be in a Fellowship. Hell, I didn't even know there was such a thing. None of here are warriors, well, maybe Strider is," he smiled, and Arwen gave a small chuckle, "But we have a destiny. So does she. I know it's hard for her," Gimli stopped and looked at Lis, his face softening. "I know this is difficult for you Lis, but I swear to you, we will take care of you." He returned his attentions to the circle. "As far as I can tell, we did a hell of a job taking care of the Ring in the old days, and I'll be damned if we slip up this time. I had never wanted to spend my time doing anything but playing soccer. But there's a higher calling now. We have an obligation to the world, as well as to ourselves, to behave as the true dignitaries we are. There's strength in all of us, the likes of which we can only imagine. We owe it to ourselves to find it. And I say Lis is a fine reason to test it. So, what'd ya say?"  
  
The Fellowship looked at Gimli, dumbfounded. He was never given to talking much at all, and when he did it was only brusque comments and rude scoffs. Such inspirational words were not something he was thought to be capable of. Perhaps that was why they rallied the way they did. The minute he stopped talking, Strider jumped to his feet, and kneeled before Lis.  
  
"I give you my word, no harm shall come to you at Rivendell, or anywhere."  
  
The hobbits scurried over next, following Strider's lead.  
  
"Us too," they all said in unison.  
  
"We will watch over you," Merry said, winking at her.  
  
"Your fate is mine, Lis." Frodo all but whispered to her, smiling lightly.  
  
"I promise you my loyalty as well." It was Gimli's turn as he took a knee next to Frodo.  
  
Boar calmly strode over and joined the quickly forming circle, his eyes intently gazing at her.  
  
"You have whatever is good in me. I promise you my loyalty and protection, and anything else you may need. I am yours to command."  
  
Lis smiled at boar, awestruck. His words cut her, and she found herself forgiving him for everything. His eyes promised far more than his words did, and she found that she could always trust his eyes.  
  
Lee was the only one not kneeling. He looked at Lis for a while, his face strangely calm. She wondered what he was thinking, sometimes it was hard to tell. He slowly got up and made his way to the circle, kneeling like the rest. His movements seemed graceful, but he was always graceful. Purposeful perhaps? Like a man who knew what he wanted. But that face, that beautiful face was calm, clear. She couldn't tell anything of him. Until he took her hand in his and pressed his lips against her knuckles. So soft, she though. She watched him, mesmerized, oblivious to the fact that everyone else was watching as well.  
  
"Till death." He whispered into her skin, his eyes fixed on her as he pulled away and joined the others. Lis blushed slightly as she looked about the circle, and a thin misting of tears glimmered in her eyes.  
  
"You are all too good." She managed through a sob-threatened voice.  
  
"Nonsense," Merry boomed good-naturedly. "We look after our own. And Ring or no Ring, you're in with us. Whether you wanna be or not." Merry smiled broadly. Lis looked about the clearing and found smiling faces nodding in violent agreement with Merry. Arwen took this opportunity to swoop down from her spot on the bench and tackled Lis, the pair falling to the soft grass laughing.  
  
"You know, you're the closest thing to a sister I've ever had?" Lis breathed through her laughing tears. Arwen smiled gently at her and hugged her tightly, laughing.  
  
"And now, my gallants, I think its time for sleeping. Leave all this talk for another day." Drili announced as she felt her way out of the tree root. Boar rushed to her side this time and helped her out of the Grove, both of them mumbling goodnights, Boar's eyes resting heavily on Lis.  
  
The company dispersed quietly, an air of peaceful contentment hanging still in the air. Now that the Ring was found, and Lis had been brought into the family, a load seemed to lift from everyone's mind, especially Lis's. Lee took Lis's arm, as everyone else seemed to disappear into the trees, steering her for the familiar path back to Avalon.  
  
"You've had a busy day, eh?" he asked quietly, his usual gentle smile playing across his features.  
  
Lis answered with a yawn, to which Lee laughed.  
  
"Yes, my princess, I think its' time for you t go to bed."  
  
Lis nodded sleepily and leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and letting him lead her.  
  
Lee looked down at her, and sighed, his breath quivery. Why me? He thought to himself. How in the world am I to keep her?  
  
"Keep her safe…" The wind seemed to whistle through the trees, and Lee nodded, his eyes clear with focus now.  
  
As they left the Grove, the wind picked up, rustling the leaves loudly, almost in a tempest like fashion. Lee and Lis had long left the woods before the storm hit, and as they slept peacefully, neither saw the shadow pass that darkened even the night sky. 


	14. assignments

Chapter fourteen  
  
  
  
A gentle breeze fluttered through the lilac and apple trees, sending a shower of soft-petaled blossoms falling to the ground. Lis sat quietly on a small stone bench, her notebook open in her lap. A soft slant of sunlight cut through a nearby tree, perfectly illuminating her textbook so that she could do her homework. After a sleep filled day following the council, Lis was ushered to her first official day of school. She had to admit it was much easier knowing that the Fellowship were going to be her classmates, but talk of Mr. Grey, Gandalf as the kids called him, intrigued her. She was pleasantly suprized to find that Mr. Grey was a displaced hippie. With longish, slightly silvering hair, and laid back beachwear (complete with flip-flops) he seemed to be the perfect teacher, and Lis was being to look forward to three more years of advanced calculus, among other things, with something near excitement.  
  
However, Gandalf had saddled them with a poetry assignment the first day of class. And even though Lis had always loved an excuse to write out-of- doors, she hated turning in poems as assignments. In front of her lay a copy of Shakespeare's "Let me not to the marriage of true minds," Lis's favorite sonnet. She mused over it for a while as one of Rivendell's infamous breezes blew up out of no where, gently rustling her textbook's pages. Lis slapped her textbook close and let her notebook lay on top of it, hoping to discourage any sudden flights of notebook paper.  
  
Lis stood up and stretched, reaching her arms behind her, letting her back arch like a cat's into the clear blue beyond. She breathed. The air outside was almost intoxicating. It was days like these that made Lis realize why Drili never liked being indoors.  
  
After Gandalf had let class out for the afternoon, telling them to, "Create. Stretch your limits. I challenge you to go to the dark places," they all dispersed, even Lee and Frodo, leaving Lis to her own devices. So, Lis wandered about for a while, making sure to stray from the paths whenever she could. She no longer worried about being lost. Someone would be sure to find her if she was needed, of that she was sure.  
  
Her feet had strayed particularly far from the path before she noticed the smallish garden, filled with cherry and apple tree's both in deliciously full springtime bloom. Lilac trees and a dozen rose bushes dotted the clearing as well, and the vibrant green of the grass added to the floral tapestry of colors. Lis was pleased, to say the least.  
  
But the beauty of her surroundings wasn't helping her write at all. After an hour of musing all she had managed to come up with was a page full of scribbles and doodles, mostly of elf ears and arrows, though she wasn't at all sure as to why.  
  
She strolled about the little garden cheerfully, her legs thankful for a stretch. The cherry blossoms, sensitive to the slightest of movements, fell in delicate showers about her shoulders as she passed under a precariously low branch. She laughed, light and carefree, as she twirled girlishly under the fall, her arms spread wide and her eyes closed. The petals felt like a thousand tiny fingers feathering gently against her skin, like a pair of lips brushing gently against her shoulder blades, like Lee…  
  
The thought filled her senses. Everything reminded her of him, the slightest sound, the softest touch, everything. His face flitted through her thoughts as she slept, his long, impeccably graceful body moved silently through her dreams. And with him moved the light. She never saw shadows when he was near, she never felt fear. Home was where he was. For the first time, she felt safe.  
  
Too safe.  
  
As a child, she'd often mused at the calm before the storm, and had even taken the trouble of noting them in her own life. The familial peace she and Ridley had before their parents died, the bliss she had with Sauron before he'd awoken, and right now. She felt at peace, almost too must so, and the slightest hint of a worry began to cloud her thoughts in the waning sunlight of the cherry garden.  
  
"Hello Lis." A nearby voice drawled.  
  
She knew that voice.  
  
Saruman.  
  
She opened her eyes slowly. A tall, gaunt, and sickly thin young man stood before her, long, greasy hair fell about his scrawny shoulders. His face, long and pale, contorted eerily with a twisted smile. He hadn't changed at all.  
  
"Manny, what are you doing here?" she managed, her throat dry, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes frantically took him in. his clothes hung from his scarecrow like body, tattered and dirty looking, even through the expensive labels. Saruman was the forewarning of shadows yet to come. He always had been, she realized that now. Only now she worried even more. In a serene place like Rivendell, what sort of harm could he do, this waif from Mordor?  
  
"I might ask you the same thing."  
  
"I go here now, I left Mordor…"  
  
"Oh, I knew that. I'm just wondering how it is that I get you alone, without your little friends."  
  
Lis just looked at him her mind racing behind her shocked-calm exterior. Her friends? He knew about them? He must've seen them together, but when? She hadn't been with them all day except during class.  
  
"What are you talking about?  
  
"The others, the Fellowship, I think they're called. Damn. It's near impossible to get you away from them. God bless that fool Gandalf for giving you all an assignment today, else we might not have gotten a chance to talk," He moved from the trunk, his movements slow and studied, that sickening smile never leaving his face. Lis backed up slowly, until the bench hit the back of her knees and she collapsed onto it, shaking. Of course. He had been following her, just like he did a Mordor. Sauron's loyal henchman to the end.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"It's not about me, Lissy, it's about Sauron. He misses you. Bad. Man you should hear him go on and on about you. Starting to get a bit annoying, actually. So, I'm here to bring you back. Make the big guy happy, you know."  
  
Lis's heart froze. Going back Mordor was not an option. She couldn't go back. Not now, not ever.  
  
"I'm not going, Manny. I'm staying here."  
  
"Oh, now, I thought you might say that. You always were noble and self-righteous, weren't you? But, the truth of the matter is, Sauron wants you, and if he wants you, he's gonna get you. You might as well just give in and go now."  
  
"You're crazy if you think I'm going back to him."  
  
"And I think you'd be crazy not too."  
  
"Are you threatening me?"  
  
"No. I'm threatening Ridley, technically."  
  
"Ridley…" Of course. She had never thought about Ridley's safety being in danger from any of this. A foolish oversight, to say the least.  
  
"Yea. Perhaps it's a bit underhanded of me,"  
  
"Don't flatter yourself." She bit out.  
  
"Come on, we need to get going. Sauron wants you back tonight."  
  
"I'm not going."  
  
"Either I take you back, or I take back Ridley and Sauron finishes him off. Either way I get paid. But you don't want something like that to happen to your brother, do you?"  
  
"You're disgusting."  
  
"And you're unoriginal." He droned boredly. "Now come on." He lurched foreword and before Lis had a chance to even think, he had her. His spindly, bony fingers clamped around her arm like a vice and he yanked her up off the bench. For such a thin, gangly creature, he was surpassingly strong, and try as she might, she couldn't get away. His other hand he clamped around her mouth as she dragged her through the garden, her heels excitedly kicking up grass and mulch as she all but clawed her way back towards he path. He had both of her arms now in his control, and the dim, nasally sound of his laugh tickled her ear as his hot breath spread down her neck. She shivered, and began o whimper, her muffled cries biting through his sallow skin.  
  
The laughter was suddenly replaced by a biting wail, and Lis was violently let go, leaving her to stumble to the ground in front of her. She looked up, wide-eyed and confused, to see Saruman holding his hand, whimpering. Blood trickled through his fingers, and Lis could now plainly see a blade, sharp and silvery, sticking straight through his hand. She looked around to see where it might have come from, and to no great suprize on her part, saw Lee standing quietly underneath a tree. He was bathe in shadow, but his eyes shone brilliantly with violent anger. Lis had once feared that look from him, now she thanked the heavens for it.  
  
Saruman looked over at him, his face contorted in pain, and made as if to move again, when another knife, drawn and glistening even in the shadows gave him cause to stop.  
  
"You bastard," he bit out, his jaw clenched.  
  
"What do mean," Lee spit out, low and venomously, "I missed."  
  
Saruman's eyes grew wide as he realized he was no longer safe here. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran, still holding his bleeding hand to his chest. Lee watched as the figure disappeared behind a building before he let the knife drop from his fingers. Lis saw it lying in the grass, silver and clean, like a sliver of the moon in the ocean.  
  
"Lee, I..." she started, but he held up a hand that shocked her into silence.  
  
"Not now. We have things to discuss."  
  
"Alright," she said uncertainly.  
  
"I'll go call the council..."  
  
"The council? What do you need to call them for?"  
  
"Things just got a bit more complicated, don'tcha think?" Lee all but spat out at her.  
  
"What, you mean Manny?"  
  
"Yes, Manny. Now we all need to talk. I suggest you come along."  
  
Lee stalked off slowly, his shoulders moving gracefully like waves, with each step. He looked like a Neanderthal, he frightened her. She'd never seen him act like this before. And she found she was too tired to go after him. She sat in the grass, dumbstruck, as night fell over Rivendell.  
  
And as midnight struck, ten pairs of feet once again plodded to the Willow Grove. 


	15. breaking

Notice: sorry this one's so late. I really truly appreciate all of the reviews I've gotten. I had no idea it would be taken this well. So I plan on finishing this piece up real soon. I feel I owe you all that much at least.  
  
  
  
Chapter fifteen  
  
  
  
"So, Mordor knows she's here…" Drili mused quietly. The Fellowship surrounded her, be-garbed in pajamas and sleepy expressions.  
  
"Of course they do. She was with them before she came here. They'd have to have known where she transferred to." Boar grumbled, his eyes vibrant through the lack of sleep.  
  
"Yes, but they're trying to get her back. More is waking up than I had expected this soon in the game. I might've known he wouldn't come get her himself."  
  
"Who wouldn't" Frodo asked "Sauron?"  
  
"Yes. Even in the old times he never carried out his own dirty work. Always got someone else to do it for him, someone weak, but incredibly gifted. People like Saruman."  
  
"Yea, who's this Saruman anyway?"  
  
"He's a student at Mordor is my guess. He used to be the head of the Wizards. A great and powerful man who was unfortunately too weak to resist Mordor's call and promises of power."  
  
"Well, what do we do now?" Strider asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Drili's answer unnerved the group. If she didn't know what the answer was, they were in trouble. The hobbit's furrowed their brows and began hurriedly whispering amongst each other. Strider and Arwen whispered between themselves as well, while Boar turned to Drili, quietly murmuring. Lee sat darkly against a tree, watching the clearing through narrowed eyes.  
  
It was Gimli's voice that broke through the silence.  
  
"So, Mordor knowing about Lis is bad, right?"  
  
Everyone nodded their heads, annoyed.  
  
"Well, then the answer's simple."  
  
All heads looked at him, their eyes wide with slight surprise and expectancy.  
  
"Well, Gimli, what's the answer?" Drili asked quietly.  
  
"Easy. Get rid of her."  
  
A shock of silence split through the group. No one moved, or even breathed.  
  
"Get, get rid of her…?" Boar managed to mumble out quietly. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I mean get rid of her. The trouble is that she's here, posing a threat to the world if Sauron gets her back, right? So, if we take her out of the equation, the problem's solved."  
  
"Problem's solved? You can't just talk about her like she's an object to be made or unmade Gimli." Lee muttered quietly. Even in the midnight, inky-blackness of the grove, everyone could see his glorious blue eyes glimmering dangerously like beacons.  
  
"I don't see why this is such a big issue," the stalky boy mumbled, "She's just a ring."  
  
"How...dare...you..." Lee rumbled.  
  
The entire grove stopped, no crickets played softly in the bushes, even the slight breezes ceased, and all the universe seemed to, for once, listen to the Elf.  
  
"She is not a ring, Gimli, she's a human being. Just like the rest of us. And if you kill her, yes kill her, it'll be her blood on your hands. Do you really want that? An innocent life sacrificed for our cowardice? Strider, do you really want to take the easy way out, and let Lis die? Do any of you? In the old days we were warriors, heroes, leaders of our kinds. Now what has time reduced us to? Insolent children who would rather run from our foes than defeat them by them strength of our sinews and hearts?"  
  
"It's easy for you to talk, Lee. You stand to lose far less than the rest of us if she dies. Would you sacrifice the good of the many for the comfort of your bed?" Gimli challenged, standing up. Lee just stared at him for a moment, and he could feel everyone's eyes harden ever so slightly against him. Gimli was right. Why was he risking everything for her? Why did he fell that she was worth people he'd never met before, faces he'd never seen? His heart churned inside of him. What was he supposed to do? His face sank as the realization of confusion hit him and he sank to his knees, a sudden run of large hot tears steaming down his pale cheeks.  
  
"Lee, she's only a girl," Arwen tried, her voice far less confidant than her words.  
  
"No, she's not!" he exploded, his tear-streaked, pained face glimmering in the moonlight. She jumped to his feet, staggering backwards a bit, his footing not the best when tempered with loss.  
  
"She's not just a girl! She's the only girl I've ever loved! Why cant you just let me  
  
be happy? Just for once in my life?" his sobs calmed into the muted purring of whimpers.  
  
Everyone's faces went waxen. Love? They'd never expected for that, at least not so soon. But then again, they couldn't deny the looks they gave each other, they way their faces lit up when the other one was mentioned. But Love? Was that worth the fate of the world?  
  
The answer was simple.  
  
No.  
  
"Lee, we just cant." Drili answered.  
  
"So, you're going to kill her?" he moaned through clentched teeth.  
  
Drili paused for a moment, then nodded slowly.  
  
"Then I'm not staying around for this." He spat out. "I quit the fellowship."  
  
With that, his lithe form sped out of the grove, leaving a silent swaying of willow branches in his wake. Arwen started crying.  
  
"Are you sure killing Lis is the answer?" Strider asked, his arms encircling the girl.  
  
"What other choices do we have?" Gimli said. The hobbits just stared at the grass quietly, their faces ashen. Boar didn't look like he was breathing.  
  
"This is the way it is meant to be." Drili pronounced the sentence slowly and deliberately, and Frodo could've sworn she seemed like a judge perched precariously in her tree root.  
  
"Meant to be?" he sputtered, suddenly finding the Fellowship to leave a bad taste in his mouth.  
  
"Yes, Frodo. The only way to stop the ring is to destroy it. That is the way it was done in the old time. The ring bearer brought the ring to fires of mount doom, where the ring was made, where it was to be unmade,"  
  
"Wait!" Frodo screamed, jumping to his feet. "Are you telling me that I have to kill Lis?"  
  
"No. Baggins did not finish his mission. The hobbit Sam did."  
  
Sam's face went ashen. "I have to do it?"  
  
"That is the course of the ring's path, I fear."  
  
"Bullshit." Frodo spat out. "I don't want any part of this. Lee is right. It's wrong to sacrifice her for, what? For mankind? We're screwing ourselves up nicely without Sauron's help. And I won't do it. I love Lis too, just as much as the rest of you do. If I burn for it, fine, but I'm not gonna let her down when she needs us the most."  
  
Sam stood beside his friend, his face resolute.  
  
"Frodo speaks for all of the hobbits. We're not going to kill her."  
  
Merry and Pippin nodded, jumping to their feet as well. Strider sighed.  
  
"What other options do we have? It's only a matter of time before Sauron's able to reclaim her. Whether or not she destroys the world or not in momentarily immaterial. What of her fate with him?"  
  
"Are you saying she's better off dead?"  
  
"If she were to go with him, she would be."  
  
Frodo wavered for the briefest of moments. The unintentional ring-bearer had never once believed that such a decision would hang on his head. But now that he was here, he found an unused strength in him that urged him to stand apart from his only friends.  
  
"No, Strider. I won't do it."  
  
"Neither will we."  
  
The hobbits all left the grove then too, the clearing becoming an eerily quiet place, the moonlight washing the remaining members in cold, unfriendly light.  
  
"We have to kill her." Drili spoke quietly. Her face, sightless and pale, seemed to genuinely feel the impact of her words, and the ultimate loss of their meaning. Strider, Gimli and Boar nodded solemnly, for Drili's word was law.  
  
The grove was empty soon after, the trees left vacant to the roaming gaze of the ever-changing moon. A breeze swept through the willows, making their branches sigh with longing and sadness.  
  
And in her room in Avalon, Lis slept quietly, unaware that her days in Rivendell were numbered. 


	16. the end of a day

A/N Ok, my greatest apologies for this taking so long. I have no excuses, only one last chapter to offer. Hopefully this will make a lot of people happy. And if not, my sympathies. And so, with no further ado...  
  
The end of a day.  
  
  
The world was bleak. The normal blue of the sky was cloaked with thick, gray clouds that drizzled cold droplets. The trees and bushes that dotted the quaint Rivendell landscape were awash in the prevailing gray.  
  
Arwen leaned her head against the cold window pane, hoping it would cool the fever in her brain. She hadn't slept the night before, her sister's words pounding on her brain like a blizzard.  
  
Lisaura must die.   
  
Arwen felt a hand on her arm and knew that it was Aragorn. She whirled around and flung herself into his arms. He cooed quietly and smoothed her hair, hoping to calm her, knowing that he wouldn't.   
  
The fellowship sat huddled in the library, the large, dark room almost swallowing the exhausted group. Everyone sat there in a dull silence, everyone except Frodo and Lee. Frodo had silently taken the task of collecting Lis, after it was begrudgingly decided that Lis's "situation" were best taken care of sooner rather than later. As the ring bearer he claimed responsibility and would not be dissuaded.   
  
No one had seen Lee all night.  
  
The rain's heavy patter droned on outside, numbing the stillness that reigned over the large room like a tomb. Heavy pellets of water thudded against the windows and the roof like thief trying to break it's way in. The rain was all anyone could hear, and secretly, they were thankful for it, thankful for anything that might help to numb the screaming in their heads. It pounded around them in strong, even surges, like the ticking of a great clock. And every tick sounded another second closer to Lisaura's doom.   
  
But quietly, the pattern was broken. It started out no louder than a bee buzz, an extra beat or two that might've been their heart beating. But it grew louder, and the group began to look around at each other, looking for confirmation that someone else had heard it. Arwen looked out the window, squinting through the fogged glass, and could make out, barely, Frodo's rain drenched figure. She peered excitedly after him, looking for Lis's following figure, but could make out nothing.  
  
"It's Frodo!" She yelled. Everyone looked to her, their eyes as wide as saucers. Sam scrambled to his feet, knocking his chair over in his excitement as he ran to the door and unlocked it for his friend. The door burst open, banging the walls with a harsh thud. Wind blew the torrents of rain into the hall, immediately soaking the carpets. Frodo, covered in rain slickers, hurried inside, the violent wind all but hurling him through the door. Sam strained against the gale to close the heavy oaken door and lock it behind Frodo, as though trying to keep the storm away.   
  
Frodo stumbled to a chair and collapsed, out breath, and peeled off his coat and galoshes, revealing the drenched clothes he wore underneath. Arwen wrapped a thick afghan around his shoulders and Frodo nodded his thanks, still trying to catch his breath.   
  
Boar rushed from the shelves of books towards Frodo, his eyes wide and looking for Lis. All he found was the little man, soaked to the bone, and his compatriots hovering around him, all wanting to ask, but none of them having the heart.   
  
  
But Boar did.  
  
"Where's Lis?" His voice boomed, breaking the pristine silence that even the tempest could not break. All eyes looked to Boar, fear for the answer lying plain in their faces. "Where is she Frodo? You were supposed to bring her here!" He started towards his friend, his face becoming contorted with seething anger and pain. "You killed her yourself, didn't you? That's why you were so hot to go by yourself this morning, you wanted to do it... ring bearer..." He bit into the words as if they left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't take his eyes off of Frodo, the small, shivering figure more than an easy target for his frustration. Maybe if he just stomped over him, like he did everything else, he could get rid of the black hole in his heart that was threatening to tear him to pieces.  
  
Frodo watched him stalking closer and closer, a murderous glare tainting his eyes again, as it had been doing so much lately. The very sight of him made Frodo's stomach lurch with a painful mixture of fear and revulsion and suddenly Frodo hurled himself out of the chair, the blanket falling off of him like a cocoon, and did the unthinkable; He stood up to Boar.   
  
"She's gone." He breathed lowly, his pale lips barely moving. Frodo's eyes glared, and at once matched Boar's in a staring contest the rest of the room was afraid to break.  
  
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Aragorn said quietly, gently, from Arwen's side.   
  
"I mean she's not there." Frodo said slowly, not taking his eyes from Boar.  
  
"That's not possible," Bilbo said matter-of-factly, wringing his hands. "On a morning like this no one would ever dare to go outside."  
  
"Not unless someone tipped them off." Boar accused.   
  
At this, Frodo reached into his pocket and pulled out a slightly damp piece of paper and held it out for Aragorn to take, which he did. As he unfolded it, Arwen gasped and recognized the stationary as that of Avalon's, and the handwriting as that of...  
  
"Lee..." She breathed, not knowing what to make of it all.  
  
Aragorn's hawk-like eyes scanned over the note, then widened as he passed it to Arwen, too dumfounded to speak. Arwen read it aloud.  
  
Dear Friends,  
  
No doubt you're reading this only a few hours after I've written it. Please know that Lis is all right, I haven't done to her what you're planning to. I'm taking her away from Rivendell, to the West, where he will never find her. And if he does, rest assured I will take care of the situation.  
Please, don't be worried about her, she'll be fine. And don't worry about me. The only thing I'm afraid of is missing you all too terribly to keep me from going. I haven't told her what we were planning, simply that she needed to leave, I think that way will be best for all of us, don't you?  
So, please, do a few things for me; Listen to Drili, dance and Strider and Arwen's wedding, and please don't forget me, or us. We love you all so much, even as I write this I can't help but cry.  
  
your friend,  
Legolas Greenleaf.   
  
The fellowship didn't move for the longest time, all of them staring at the piece of paper, shaking in Arwen's hands. A small sigh from Drili's corner of the room brought their attentions back to the here and now, and brought Frodo's irrational mind to working again. He stormed past Boar, pushing the monolith out of his way, towards the blind prophetess, his small, angelic face resembling Boar's in a frightening way.   
  
"This is my job, Drili. You said I was the ring bearer. I should be the one taking Lis away, not Lee."   
  
"Don't martyr yourself, Frodo." Sam said quietly, trying to calm his friend. "Lee wanted to take her away, since the first moment he saw her."  
  
"Like the rest of us didn't." Boar mumbled quietly, much more sedated.  
  
"What's the use of being a stupid ring bearer if I can't even help?"  
  
"Is that what you think?" she asked, her face displaying her sincere concern for her friend. "Frodo, you have done much help. All of you have, for yourselves as much as for Lee and Lis. Frodo, it was not your destiny to relieve Middle earth of the ring, it never was. Lee was meant to be the ring's keeper now, not you, Frodo."  
  
"Then what was I supposed to do? What were any of us supposed to do."  
  
"Show her that there is life outside of Mordor. That not all love comes with a painful price. And this you have done." She smiled gently at the group before her. "My lovely friends, you have taught her how to breathe again, and that is no mean task. I will miss her as much as any of you will, but understand that she is happy where she is, and will think on all of you everyday until she passes from this age and into the next."  
  
"Wait a minute," Gimli said, "You mean that once we all die, this whole thing will start over again?"  
  
"Yes, as it is meant to in every age."  
  
"Well, that's something of a comfort." The stalky boy remarked with an unusual amount of kindness. "We'll see them again."  
  
"That you will, master dwarf," Galadriel said sweetly. "That you will."  
  
  
  
******  
  
The landscape passed outside the train compartment window in a rapid succession of green, as though a child had spilled his finger-paint jar. The sun was beginning to set and cast a soft pink glow over the world, even making the somewhat harsh glare on the glass pane soften. Small stars were beginning to come out, faintly sprinkling the slowly darkening sky like powdered sugar.   
  
Lee sighed at the sight. It had been a long time since he'd been to the West and had almost forgotten how amazingly beautiful it was. He smiled, a familiar image of he and Lis, old and wrinkled, sitting on the porch and watching the sunset, played through his mind. And it was possible now, he thought to himself. He looked at her, sitting across from him in their small little compartment, her eyes hungrily watching the world outside pass her in a brilliant, Monet-esque wash.   
  
He reach across the space dividing them and touched her hand. She immediately responded by weaving her fingers in between his. She looked down at their hands together on her lap and smiled thoughtfully. Lee just stared at her, and niether of them spoke, knowing that they had the rest of their lives to talk. Right now it was enough just being there with each other, and they knew that. Lis blushed slightly and quickly transferred her gaze to the window, letting Lee laugh at her quietly an follow her gaze.  
  
"Home..." he breathed quietly.  
  
"Home..." She echoed.  
  
And both said so looking right at the other. 


End file.
